lean to go up, slow to go loud (2016)
lean to go up, slow to go loud – the first piece for Sensory Bikes.
Exploring freedom and celebrating escape through human action to find alternatives. Hot air balloons take off, train lines sing, people cheer and nature continues to grow. A mikromusik 2016 commission. 1.9.16. Villa Elisabeth, Invalidenstraße 3, 10115 Berlin. DETAILS
Made for four Sensory Bikes built in Berlin, lean to go up,slow to go loud follows a route mapped between two churches and the Berlin wall, taking the rider from the Elisabethe church, Invalidenstr, up Strelitzer Str, west along the north side of Bernaueur Str and into the far end of the Nordbahnhof park. In the churchyard and the park, the rider will find they can play the sounds. Riding more slowly or stopping will change the note or lower a pitch. Tilting and leaning will filter sounds, and the breaks will step to different modes. Inbetween, the rider will hear the work unfold in layered fragments linked to different locations as they cycle.
With the central melody a sonification of the route of the wall through the city sung by four voices within the vast reverb of Villa Elisabeth, the piece also considers the Hungarian Serbian wall, inviting reflection on contemporary systems of community control and the prevention of free movement.
Made by Kaffe Matthews whilst in residence at Villa Elisabeth August 2016 with Sensory Bikes made in collaboration with Sukandar Kartadinata & The Bicrophonic Research Institute (BRI)
Voices: Boris Hauf, Christian Kesten, Kaffe Matthews, Andrea Neumann
This project has been realised through support from the Edgar Varèse Guest professorship DAAD, TU Audio Communications, INM
