City Space on Foot

Oct. 1, 2016

City Space on Foot
katrinem
 

Exhibiton, performance, workshop, talk
October 2-9, 2016, Mohsen Gallery
No. 42, Mina Blvd., Nurbakhsh St, Farzan St., Naji Alley, East Zafar Avenue, North Modarres Exp Way ,Tehran
 

The vitality of a city is reflected in the activities of its inhabitants. Among other things, how, when and where they move around in it. As a form of transport, walking offers the greatest individual freedom in terms of direction and tempo. Sidewalks, pedest-rian areas, traffic-free roads and squares are the public spaces most preferred by those navigating a city on foot, inscribing the pulse of their footsteps on pavements and paths.
A gait is a person ‘s most distinctly individual pattern of movement. Audible in the sound of footsteps, our rhythm emerges from the regularity with which we place one foot after the other. We practice this individuality almost exclusively in public, where the step rhythms of single pedestrians join others in polyrhythmic structures. While these rhythms are often masked by high noise levels of urban areas and their activities, they become ‚audible‘ again through the visibility of the movements. The ways once walked seldom leave traces, but crisscross over the city like an invisible network. At all points where these crossings accumulate, we find vibrant city spaces.
For over 12 years, katrinem is investigating the walkability of cities and its associated spatial perception, through her work series, go your gait!. The exhibit City Space on Foot takes a gander into this artistic research and production. Two aspects of her process are emphasized: Observing a site, and personally experiencing space while walking.
The exhibit creates a palpable connection to Tehran city space with pieces generated on site, and offers an experience of the immediate vicinity through works such as a SchuhzuGehör_path of awareness customized for the area around the Mohsen Gallery.
The indoor exhibit is tethered to the outdoors: For the duration of the exhibit the topic is further explored through performances, workshops and talks.
 

2016/2/10. 4 pm – 8pm (opening)
2016/3/10. 11am – 8pm
6pm- guided walking performance (40 min)
7pm-City Space on Foot (talk)
2016/4/10. 11am – 8pm
6pm-guided walking performance (40 min)
2016/5/10. 11am – 8pm
6pm – 8pm_pause and listen (workshop)
2016/6/10. exhibition closed
2016/7/10. 4pm -10pm
5pm-guided walking performance (40 min)
7pm- katrinem‘s research and methods (talk)
2016/8/10. 11am – 8pm
6pm-guided walking performance (40 min)
7pm-walking behavior in our everyday life (open talk)
2016/9/10. 11am – 8pm

Limited number of participants for workshops and guided walking performances. Please make your reservation!
Thanks for support and cooperation: Austrian Cultural Forum Tehran, Melody Roozimand, Reza Gharib, Ars Electronica Linz, Tadaex Festival, Mohsen Gallery.

 

Gendarmenmarkt [Place Studies]
 
In the audio-visual work Gendarmenmarkt all walking movements at the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin are sonified according to a compositional principle to the pavement pattern of the square. The “players” go their ways, creating audible traces that begin to mix with and against each other. The rhythms and structures emerging for a few moments from individual gaits provide a code to capture the square for a short while, then release it. The sine tones used to sonify footsteps distinguish themselves from the familiar stepping sound and direct concentration onto the rhythmic element through their abstract technical simplicity. Duration, force of impact, dynamic and panning are used as differentiating parameters.Gendarmenmarkt was the first of 24 audiovisual works and compositions in the format Place Studies.

 

SchuhzuGehör_path of awareness
 
The format SchuhzuGehör_path of awareness explores an individual‘s personal experience of space through walking, particularly the interplay between sound event (footstep) and surrounding architecture, influenced by the permanently changing interactions. In SchuhzuGehör the path itself is the destination. The main requirements are a moderate walking tempo, a uniformity of movement and a willingness to open the space of our auditory perception as wide as possible. If we allow ourselves to listen to our own pacing, we begin to discern clear [aural] thresholds —that is, transitions from one auditory space to another— and the smallest alterations of the space. The clacking shoes become soloists in the space, dialoguing with the surroundings and situating us in the space. At the exhibit, audio-visual compositions of this format are given by the works _braunschweig, Midtown NY, _marseille, _mexico city and _strömstad

 

SchuhzuGehör_path of awareness_tehran_3
 
Using Mohsen Gallery as starting point, a route is marked out: a path of awareness offering numerous opportunities to engage with Tehran city dynamics. Walking itself, characteristics of footwear, the walkability of Tehran, as well as its architectural and atmospheric qualities, are all the matized.
audio-visuel composition: This is a recording of my walk along the path with a pair of “soundful” shoes, binaural microphones and a headmounted videocamera. In postproduction I combine the binaural recording with stills or excerpts from the video footage related to the walking rhythm, so that the visual is more for orientation, the auditory for location in space. Visitors are invited on their own explorations of the path using maps available to take with or to join in a guided walking performance with the artist. (40 minutes; limited number of participants!)
 

pictograms of walking I
 
pictograms of walking I is a presentation of a long term research and collection about walking symbols (since 2011). The 12 figures of pictograms of walking I is collected in Strömstad, Gothenburg and Berlin in the year 2016.
 

play_gait – ein SchuhzuGehör-Instrument
 
A score is created through a particular arrangement of different ground covers including wood,stone, and soft materials. Individual interpretations of the work emerge from an interplay of stride length, walking rhythm and the various ground coverings. This instrument can be played by anyone stepping about in ‚soundful‘ shoes.
 

pause and listen – workshop
 
A practice-based study of how we experience the world through listening (auditory habitat [living space]). pause and listen is a practice which aims specifically at producing a connection between the individual and their space. Through this the auditory atmospheric quality of places and locations in public space will be tested and the audible examined. Reservation required!
 
Katrinem – lives in Berlin (D) and Linz (A). Investigating sound and space has long been an integral part of katrinem‘s artistic work and research. Comprehensive training in classical music (violin/viola) with constant performance practice (orchestra, ensemble) formed the broad early foundation that led to a specialization in spatial performances and new performative practices. Since 2004, a series of projects concerned with imprints of our gaits in public space, and investigating the interplay of transitory spaces and public sites, have been created under the heading go your gait!

 
www.katrinem.de
https://vimeo.com/katrinem
https://soundcloud.com/katrinem_sounds