The innovative and interactive installation »Politician’s Speech« is breaking new ground in the realm of political engagement and artistic expression. This avant-garde project allows individuals to simulate the experience of delivering a momentous political speech through the use of gesture-based technology. »Politician’s Speech« by media artist Michael Markert transforms the traditional landscape of political rhetoric, removing it from the exclusive domain of statesmen and hômmes d’état and bringing it literally into the hands of everyday citizens. Participants are invited to stand at a cybernetic speaker’s desk, where distance sensors integrated into microphones detect their gestures. This data is then processed by the ACSensorizer, a state-of-the-art microcontroller developed by Michael Markert that converts the signals into synthetic voice enunciations, interfacing seamlessly to generate new speeches, based on original political speeches.
The system employs a specially developed Speech Synthesis program, Kempelen 3 (kIII), which offers a range of real-time speech and phoneme generation controls using state-of-the-art computer speech output. By inputting real political speeches into a Random Markov Chain Sentence Generator, the installation analyzes and constructs new phrases based on the probability of word sequences. This approach not only generates grammatically almost correct content, albeit nonsensical, but also adjusts various vocal parameters like pitch, rate, modulation, and volume in accordance with user gestures.
Further enhancing the experience, »Politician’s Speech« utilizes Apple’s Speech Output to create remarkably lifelike vocalizations, with the flexibility to support multiple languages. This innovation ensures that the installation is not restricted geographically, allowing global audiences to experiment with the speech synthesis of politicians from various cultural backgrounds.
Having been showcased in prestigious venues such as Kunstverein Neuhausen in Stuttgart, CIANT Gallery in Prague, and Kunsthaus Nuremberg, »Politician’s Speech« continues to captivate audiences with its unique blend of technology and art. The installation has been featured as part of notable international exhibitions, highlighting its significance in the intersection of human rights and digital interaction.
Exhibitions:
- 13.03. – 26.04.2009: Einzelausstellung im Kunstverein Neuhausen, Fildern b. Stuttgart
- 25.11. – 14.12.2008: CIANT Gallery (International Centre for Art and New Technologies), Prague, Czech Republic
- 31.05.2008: Blaue Nacht Nürnberg, Fünfeckturm an der Burg
- 28.02.2008: Werkschau, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg, Ausstellungshalle
- 20.09. – 04.11.2007: Kunsthaus K4 Nürnberg with the Exhibition “Human Lights” during the Nuremberg Award for Human Rights.




