one river six tunnels (2020)
A new sonic bike experience, made from and mapped along the banks of the river Pegnitz, by Kaffe Matthews and the BRI with Nürnberg residents Silja Beck, Ina Ritter, Alessia Pennavaria and Alexandria Salari.
Commissioned by lucid dream ug as part of SONGLINES_klangkunst 2020, it was curated by Carsten Seiffarth with production manager Eric Nykodym.
15 sonic bikes for you to ride, 16.- 25.10.20 Spitalgasse 1, Nürnberg, 10.00-18.00h täglich.
Over small distances, the banks of the river Pegnitz are rich in variety. The obvious, the historical, the architectural and social. Stop to investigate, and you will hear sounds and frequencies amplified by the tunnels you pass through, transported along the bridges above you, enabling a music you might not have realised existed.
Matthews’ starting point was to go visit the river at its source. The tiny town of Pegnitz 40 mins train ride away sits around it, but on arrival she was disappointed to find only a small pool and an empty concrete pond. Careful microphones and a pause and suddenly a moment, and a rich resonant frequency at low C sharp sang into life sounded by the passing roaring traffic.
That afternoon in Nürnberg exploring the passage of the river, she again found this frequency in some of its tunnels as well as it being the frequency at which the cobalt blue ‘Blue Rider’ at Hans Sachs Platz vibrates. Slowly cycling the rivers banks over days, the glide of very different spaces sitting adjacent, she heard people, shops, new squares, homes, a kindergarten, nature, the police, designer boutiques, the Hangmans wooden bridge, coffee and spritz sippers, functional transport bridges, talking talking in multiple languages, less organised nature, and the joy of the reality under the Theodor Hauss Brücke. All along the way too, the river is crossed by many different bridges and tunnels , each of different materials, with different stories, somehow spanning histories, embracing the shifting requirements its residents have needed all this time.
As well as Alexander Salariu – multi talented assistance, Mikey Weinkove – bicrophonic preparation London, Stefan – bicrophonic preparation Nürnberg,
and Carsten Seiffarth and Eric Nikodym for endless support through tricky COVID almost thwarted times
Thank you too to Sandra and Felix for patience in the sonic bike takeover at Spitlagasse 1, N2025 action HQ.
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