PHASE I – PUBLIC INTERVENTION

Fase I is carried out from a place, where we know very little, but feel and want so much…

 

Fase I is an attempt on a public intervention over two days at various locations in Copenhagen, Denmark. Some places that are thought to be quiet and good for listening. Other places that are perceived as very noisy, where listening is (practically) difficult, and perhaps something else.

The interventions consist of an installation of four different sound pieces set on a low volume so bypassers would have to listen extra carefully in order to experience the works. 

 

The sound pieces consist of three written and recorded text meditations for listening by the members of the bureau and one commissioned piece by sound artist Olivia Thyge Rosendal Johansen called Waterpipe Sirens. 

The sound pieces, texts, notes to the listener follows further down the page. 

 

The intervention takes place the 19th and 20th of February 2022.

 

Fase I of our AGGRESSIVE LISTENING project is being supported by SNABSLANTEN.

 

 

 

Waterpipe Sirens

Sound artist Olivia Thyge Rosendal Johansen (she/her) examines the interaction between space, people and sound. Space in sense of the experience of and with the physical space as well as a private inner space. Sound is both a verbal and non-verbal form of expression and sensation that speaks to our subconscious, making the media interesting. We constantly interact with sound in one way or another, and by actively using the sound medium, interesting and powerful spaces and interactions between them are created and shaped.

Waterpipe Sirens By Olivia Thyge Rosendal Johansen.

[Note for listener: Waterpipe Sirens was created with the installation in mind – a single speaker in a public space – produced in mono. This (online) version differs from the original work by being intended for digital media, and for this purpose is produced in stereo. The experience of the work therefore differs in perspective and perception. ]

Artwork description for Waterpipe Sirens:

(DK) Værket tager udgangspunkt i de kilometervis af vandrør, der befinder sig under overfladen, uanset hvor i det offentlige byrum man befinder sig. Højfrekvente resonanser og pulserende teksturer udgør lydbilledet i underverdenen, uagtet hvilket lyde der fylder det respektive bylandskab foroven. Mødet mellem disse to, åbner op for et nyt rum i et allerede eksisterende rum – Og det er op til den forbipasserende / lytteren, at give plads til dette nye rum, i det allerede lydfyldte byrum.

 

(ENG) This piece is inspired by the kilometers of water pipes that run beneath the surface no matter where you are in the public urban space. High-frequency resonances and pulsating textures make up the soundscape of the underworld, regardless of the sounds that fill the respective urban landscape above. The meeting between these two opens up a new space in an already existing space – And it is up to the passerby / listener to make room for this new space in the already sound-filled urban arena.

Three written and recorded text meditations for listening

Før at lytte by Amalie Sejersdahl.

[Note for listener: Listen to me, we could might be friends.]

Text:

 

om at lytte inden du lytter

 

hvad er der inden du lytter

og lytter du til, at du hører

eller hører du kun hvad du lytter til 

 

er det dit øre der lytter 

eller hjernen 

eller knoglerne

 

Er lyden i luften

eller i muren

eller i højttaleren

 

er der stilhed inden du lytter

 

hvilke andre sanser skal du bruge for at lytte 

lytter du først eller sidst

 

prøv at se rundt 

find en lyd

hvilken lyd er det

lyder det dejligt

er den kedelig

eller mærker du lyden i lænden, ligesom jeg gør

 

kan du lige nu se ud og lytte til alt der sker omkring dig samtidig

eller kan du beslutte kun at lytte til én lyd selvom de andre lyde er der 

hvis du lukker øjnene er lyden så højere

 

kan du stoppe med at lytte til mig

 

kan du huske lyden af sommer

lyden af inden corona kom

hvordan lyder det

 

jeg har stillet mange spørgsmål uden at få svar

men jeg lytter til dig nu

Manual for Listening by Randi Lindholm Hansen.

[Note for listener: Listen to this text with the slightly distanced and slightly forced calm of the voice from your meditation app.]

Text:

 

To master the craft of listening, you must be willing to offer your time and attention. Listening starts with an acknowledgement that this is not only an act of the ear but an act of the heart. When you have come to an acceptance of this fact, you are ready.  Firstly, offer your silence. Your silence leaves room for others to speak. Then, offer your consciousness. Observe what is in front of you. Devote your attention to something outside yourself. This is an act of selflessness and generosity. An act of love. Then you listen. And when you do, listen for more than words.

Piece for (Aggressive) Listening by Lukas Quist Lund.

[Note for listener: Please, listen to this piece critically and emphatically: it’s not consistent.]

Text:

 

I shall begin to listen – but what is listening?

 

Is this listening? 

This. Asking: what is listening?

 

No, I don’t expect it to be so – but I don’t know – I really don’t know… but is listening about knowing?

 

Perhaps, I should let go of knowing. Perhaps, I should let go of my ‘I’, my subject, my ‘self’ – perhaps listening is beyond the ‘ego’, the ‘me’ and the ‘I’ –  beyond the need to know.

 

I’m now something else.

 

Something that hopes to listen.

 

This is perhaps ‘pre-listening’. This every moment.

 

This is tuning in on listening.

 

Where is listening? Why is listening? Who, and what, is listening? 

 

Do you hear me? Do you listen to me? How would I know that you do so?

 

Do you feel me?

 

Me, who is something else – me, who is not me.

 

I wonder – what are you, who might be listening to me, – me, who is not me?

 

Does listening listen to itself?

 

What is the ‘being’ of listening?

 

What is the ritual that will enable me to listen even greater – perhaps aggressively.

 

Yes, that’s the key point of this piece: what does it mean to listen aggressively? That’s the objective of this mission, is it not? The objective of this wondering, this some kind of letting go – kind of losing something – what am I losing?

 

Do I, who is not a ‘I’, need to give an order – an aggressive listening order?

 

You are now ordered to listen aggressively!

 

Listen!

 

Is it possible?

Is it at all possible to listen, when commanded to do so? Do listening not resist all kinds of demands?

 

This makes no sense to me – but of course, I am not right now.

 

Listen!

 

Yes – it’s coming – something – something that can only come into being – but only now, only now when I’m aggressively listening to it – it – what is it? What is it, which can only be heard aggressively – what is it? Tell me! I want to know! I want to listen! 

 

Why can’t I? 

 

I am of course not an ‘I’ for the moment.

 

My body is not my body.

 

My mind is not my mind.

 

It all belongs to something else – belonging, this confuses me  – to belong to something that can only be heard, while listening aggressively.

 

I feel the conquest.

 

I feel the battle being won – won how? Won why?

 

Won, but only by my own defeat – yes, I am truly losing.

 

Yes, I surrender – please, defeat me – destroy me.

 

Yes, I can listen, yes, I do listen – or at least I’m closing in on it – closing in on the victory – which is not a victory – but perhaps just an ability – an attempt – on something – something which will be gained by letting go.

 

I say no more – I battle no more – here, take me – take me as silence – as the act of listening – let’s see who will be listening the most, the deepest, the most violently and aggressively – let’s see who will be destroyed by the other’s act of listening – I wonder if I will ever come back as myself again.

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