Programme around Berlin Alexanderplatz
For WHOM is Alexanderplatz sounding? is a two week long artistic research in public space, a critical evaluation of our sonic ambiance touching upon the right of way and the ethics and politics of everyday sounds. A practice of walking as meeting and walking as being in the world will be introduced on and around Alexanderplatz.
Aim is to question the affordances of the actual outdoor surroundings for human and more than human beings. This questioning will be done together with invited artists and friends in Berlin who each have a personal or professional relation with the area. The question we will start from is: “how do sonic sensorial qualities of urban spaces play into (in)justice, (in)equality and power relations in public space, in particular around Alexanderplatz.”
While walking we listen and ask:
Who is living here?
What do they need?
How do they feel when outside?
And who designs these streets? Do they ever come here?
Do they walk?
Whom is this place for?
What can you do here and what can you NOT do here?
How does the sound you hear include some and exclude others?
Programme
We will organised two talks in Liebig12 (invite-only) and two public sound walks around Alexanderplatz.
Make reservations for Full moon walk 17 October
Make reservations for Sunday morning walk 20 October
Apart from the talks and sound walks we will organise workshops to generate and test new ideas and methods for planners, urbanists and architects to incorporate sonic sensorial qualities of urban spaces into their designs, in particular for Alexanderplatz and surrounding areas.
In this project we build upon the results of Sonic Aggregator in 2021 and aim to lay the groundwork for a bigger project about urban sound design in 2025 in Berlin.
This programme is supported by Liebig12 and Co-Making Matters, Haus der Statistik.
Reading suggestion: Auditory Poverty and its Discontents by Nina Dragičević
