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  • ohrenhoch kids - Comic
    ohrenhoch kids - Comic "soundmap"
    Online Comic auf http://comic.ohrenhoch.org/ - Illustration von Knut Remond
  • ohrenhochSonntage
    ohrenhochSonntage
    Eintritt frei!
  • SoundGallery
    SoundGallery
    Videos, Sound installation und Handbag Electronics - alle Informationen rund um die Hörgalerie finden Sie hier!
  • Workshops
    Workshops
    Alle Informationen rund um die Workshop Kooperationen finden Sie hier!
  • picture,score,video
    picture,score,video
  • "smell of growing hair" Nobuko Hori
    Ein Sound und eine kleine visuelle Installation, inspiriert von meinen alten Tonbändern aus meiner Kindheit.
    Soundloop und Installation
    von Nobuko Hori
    Assistenz: Kyoka
  • Live-Acts
    Live-Acts
    ohrenhoch bietet auch eine Plattform für Live Performances
    Voraussetzung ist, dass das benutzte Material für Live-Elektronik, in einem Handtäschchen Platz hat Grösse 30 x 30 x 10 cm.
  • Soundinstallation
    Soundinstallation
    Portrait: Jo Thomas-'plugged" von Ute Safrin
    'Timepiece (Berlin, September, 2010)'
    Soundinstallation - für ohrenhoch
    von Thom Blum
  • Beton_Zeitfresser
    Beton_Zeitfresser
  • PHONPIXMIX
    PHONPIXMIX
    ohrenhoch.tv
    January 28 - 30, 2011
  • ohrenhoch_Kids
    ohrenhoch_Kids
    radio play
  • KYOKA_HONDA
    KYOKA_HONDA
    SOUND_INSTALLATION
    14. 21 AUGUST
  • .
    .
  • Kyoka_HONDA
    Kyoka_HONDA
    Sound Cape 1 u. 2
    14 u. 21 August 2011
  • .
    .
    28.8._4.9.2011
  • ohrenhoch_Land
    ohrenhoch_Land
    ohrenhoch_Kids
    June 17-19, 2011
  • ohrenhoch_Land
    ohrenhoch_Land
    ohrenhoch_Kids
    June 17-19, 2011
  • .
    .
    live performance
  • Sunday
    Sunday
  • BABY FUN
    BABY FUN
    ohrenhoch_Kids youngsters 2012
    Samstag 24. März, 18 - 21 Uhr
    Sonntag 25. März, 14 - 21 Uhr
    und am Sonntag 1. April 2012, 14 - 21 Uhr:
  • 2pm_9pm
    2pm_9pm
    every Sunday
  • SoundCake
    SoundCake
    ohrenhoch - Kids and Knut Remond
  • ohrenhochTV
    ohrenhochTV
    livestream:
    live am Sonntag 11. Dezember 2011, 21:00 Uhr
  • Tape music
    Tape music
    Every Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • 2pm_9pm
    2pm_9pm
    Sunday 5.2 und 12.2 2012
  • Home, Premiere
    Home, Premiere
    Sunday 19 and 26 February 2012, 2pm - 9pm:
  • Trinity
    Trinity
    4 u.11 März 14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • feedback
    feedback
    ohrenhoch' launches an additional presentation platform named "feedback".
  • +
    +
    Sound Objekte Sonntag 18. März 2012, 14 - 21 Uhr:
  • Baby Fun
    Baby Fun
    Samstag 24. März, 18 - 21 Uhr
    Sonntag 25. März, 14 - 21 Uhr
    und am Sonntag 1. April 2012, 14 - 21 Uhr
  • Wunderkammer
    Wunderkammer
    Sonntag 22 and 29 April 2012
  •  _
    _
    Dariusz Mazurowski_pseudaria,ohr/ohrenhoch
  • klanginstallation
    klanginstallation
    Sunday 2 pm - 9pm
  • 15 and 22 Juli 2012
    15 and 22 Juli 2012
    Tape and Scores
  • 29 Juli und 5 August
    29 Juli und 5 August
    2012
  • sunday 12 and 19 august
    sunday 12 and 19 august
    electroacoustic music with video
  • Neele Hülcker
    Neele Hülcker
    Sunday 26 and 2 September 2012
  • TAPEMUSIC
    TAPEMUSIC
    Sunday 9 and 16 September 2012
  • 23 and 30 September 2012  2pm - 9pm
    23 and 30 September 2012 2pm - 9pm
    NEW SPEAKER Installation
  • 3,4 and 11 November
    3,4 and 11 November
    Sound_Installation
  • Sunday 18 and 25 November
    Sunday 18 and 25 November
    Every Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • Ulrich Ludat
    Ulrich Ludat
    2 und 9 Dezember 14:00 - 21:00 Uhr
  • PREMIERE
    PREMIERE
    Every Sunday 16 and 23 December
  • 2pm - 9pm
    2pm - 9pm
    Sunday 6 and 13 January 2013
  • Zu hören am Sonntag 20. und 27. Januar 2013, 14 - 21 Uhr
    Zu hören am Sonntag 20. und 27. Januar 2013, 14 - 21 Uhr
    Every Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • Sunday 3 and 10 February 2013
    Sunday 3 and 10 February 2013
    Every Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • Sunday 17 and 24 February 2013
    Sunday 17 and 24 February 2013
    Tapemusic
  • BASSBOX with 5 Loudspeaker
    BASSBOX with 5 Loudspeaker
    Loudspeaker-Installation
  • 3 and 10 March 2013
    3 and 10 March 2013
    Shahrokh Yadegari "Invitable" Worldpremiere
  • Dean Rosenthal
    Dean Rosenthal
    Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • ohrenhoch-Kids
    ohrenhoch-Kids
    Frühlingserwachen: Samstag 23 März 17:00-21:00 Uhr
    ohrenhoch_Sonntage: 24 u. 31 März 2013
  • for
    for "BASSBOX"
    Sunday 14 and 21 April
    Sunday 28 April and 5 May 2013
  • part two
    part two
    SUNDAY 28 April and 5 May 2013
  • 12 and 19 May 2013
    12 and 19 May 2013
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • Sunday 26 May and 2 June
    Sunday 26 May and 2 June
    Every Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • with Knut Remond
    with Knut Remond
    Sunday 9 June 2013/Time:15:00_17:00_19:00
  • :-)
    :-)
    Freitag 14 Juni 19:00-23:00 Uhr
    Samstag 15 Juni 14:00-22:00 Uhr
    Sonntag 16 Juni 14:00-19:00 Uhr
  • LEBENSPROJEKT
    LEBENSPROJEKT
    Sunday 7 and 14 July 2013
  • 21 und 28 Juli 2013
    21 und 28 Juli 2013
    SOUND ± VIDEO
  • Sound-Installation with special Booklet
    Sound-Installation with special Booklet
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • Premiere 4 und 11 August 2013
    Premiere 4 und 11 August 2013
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • Sunday 18 + 25 August 2013
    Sunday 18 + 25 August 2013
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • =
    =
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • SOUNDSCAPE-PHOTO INSTALLATION
    SOUNDSCAPE-PHOTO INSTALLATION
    Sunday 15 and 22 September 2013
    2pm-9pm
  • Sound and Booklets
    Sound and Booklets
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • Sonntag 29 September 2013
    Sonntag 29 September 2013
    Mitarbeit an einer Komposition nur am Sonntag 29 September 14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • Tape with Score
    Tape with Score
    Sunday 6 and 13 October 2013
    2pm - 9pm
  • ich und...? Tonbandstück
    ich und...? Tonbandstück
    Sunday 20 and 27 Ocober 2pm-9pm 2013
  • Video_Installation
    Video_Installation
    Samstag 2.November 18:00-23:00 Uhr und 3/10November 14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • Video_Installation
    Video_Installation
    Sunday 10. November, 2pm-9pm 2013
  • echoic memory
    echoic memory
    Martyna Pozna?ska
    Sunday 17 and 24 and 1 December 2013,
    2pm - 9pm
  • 8 and 15 December 2013
    8 and 15 December 2013
    Live-Audiostream Soundstück (Uraufführung)
    18:00 - 21:00 Uhr im Schaufensterraum
  • LIVE AUDIOSTREAM
    LIVE AUDIOSTREAM
    8 und 15 Dezember:18:00-21:00 Uhr
    8 and 15 December: 6pm-9pm
  • TAGE I I I
    TAGE I I I
    Sunday 22 and 29 December 2013
    special: 22 Dec: 2am-9am and 2pm-9pm
  • THE FIRST 2014
    THE FIRST 2014
    Sonntag 5 und 12 Januar 2014
    14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • AUDIOFIELDREPORT
    AUDIOFIELDREPORT
    New edition 2014
  • 19 and 26 January 2pm-9pm 2014
    19 and 26 January 2pm-9pm 2014
    Sound and Video Installation
  • 2 and 9 February 2014
    2 and 9 February 2014
  • 16 and 23 February 2014
    16 and 23 February 2014
    world premiere!!
  • Sunday 2 march 2pm-9pm
    Sunday 2 march 2pm-9pm
    grand opening
  • Sunday 9 and 16 march 2014
    Sunday 9 and 16 march 2014
    special mix for ohrenhoch
  • The electroacoustic composer:
    The electroacoustic composer:
    The title itself comes from a declaration she made during an interview saying that some
    actor once said that kissing her was like kissing Hitler.

    What sound accompanied Marilyn Monroe’s death ?

    Sunday 23 and 30 March 2pm-9pm 2014
  • Video and Soundinstallation
    Video and Soundinstallation
    Sunday 6 and 13 April 2014
  • killAmor
    killAmor
    Sunday 20 and 27 April 2014
  • Sunday 4 and 11 May 2014
    Sunday 4 and 11 May 2014
    "I will call you with birds names"
  • Sunday 4 and 11 May 2pm-9pm 2014
    Sunday 4 and 11 May 2pm-9pm 2014
    Meeting and twittering birds experiment with Prune Bécheau at 6pm
  • Sunday 18 & 25 May 2014
    Sunday 18 & 25 May 2014
    Every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • TAPE-MUSIC
    TAPE-MUSIC
    Sunday 1 and 8 june 2pm-9pm
  • Louise K. Wilson
    Louise K. Wilson
    Sunday: 15 and 22 June 2pm-9pm
    2014
  • 48Std.Neukölln 2014
    48Std.Neukölln 2014
    Freitag 27. Juni-Sonntag 29 Juni
    19:00-23:00/14:00-23:00/14:00-19:00 Uhr
  • "I"
    Annabel Frearson Sunday 13. and 20. July 2014, 2pm - 9 pm
  • Fieldrecording
    Fieldrecording
    Sunday 27 July and 3 August 2pm-9pm 2014
  • °
    °
    "Touch" Sunday 10 and 17 August 2014
    2pm-9pm
  • Sound-Installation 2 pm - 9 pm
    Sound-Installation 2 pm - 9 pm
    Martin Daske + Kg Augenstern (Christiane Prehn und Wolfgang Meyer)
    Sonntag 24. und 31. August
    Sonntag 7. und 14. September
    2014
  •  Schiff 014
    Schiff 014
    Video-Livestream-
    Installation
    Sunday 7 and 14
    September 2014
    2pm-9pm
  • docu-music
    docu-music
    Sunday 21 and 28 September 2014
    2pm - 9 pm
  • Tape-Music
    Tape-Music
    Sunday 5 and 12 October 2014
    2pm-9pm
  • Klang-Installation
    Klang-Installation
    Sonntag 19. und 26. Oktober 2014
    14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • Sound-Installation
    Sound-Installation
    Sunday 19 and 26 October 2014
    2 pm 9 pm
  • Dok.Sound
    Dok.Sound
    Samstag 1. November 19:00-23:00 Uhr (NachtundNebel)
    Sonntag 2. und 9. November 14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • TapeMusic
    TapeMusic
    Sunday 16 and 23 November 2014
    2 pm-9 pm
  • Performance Late Night Show
    Performance Late Night Show
    Freitag 28 November 21:00 Uhr
    Plätze Reservieren
    info@ohrenhoch.org
  • Matthias Kranebitter survival of the fittest
    Matthias Kranebitter survival of the fittest
    Sonntag: 30 November und 7 Dezember 2014
  • Neele Hülcker + Elisabeth R. Hager
    Neele Hülcker + Elisabeth R. Hager
    Sonntag 14, 21 und 28 Dezember 2014
    14:00-21:00 Uhr
  • Soundactivism 2015
    Soundactivism 2015
    at ohrenhoch in 2015 the platform "soundactivism" will be installed!
    im ohrenhoch wird 2015 die plattform "soundactivism" installiert! 
  • Salt Sculpting Martyna Poznanska
    Salt Sculpting Martyna Poznanska
    Sonntag 4 und 11 Januar 2015
    Sunday 4 and 11. January 2015
  • dieter kaufmann
    dieter kaufmann
    Sunday 18 and 25 January 2pm-9pm / 2015
  • Sound installation Christine Gedeon
    Sound installation Christine Gedeon
    Sunday 1 and 8 February 2 pm-9 pm
    2015
  • outcry Knut Remond
    outcry Knut Remond
    Sunday 15 an 22 February 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • FIELDRECORDINGS moskwa
    FIELDRECORDINGS moskwa
    Sunday 1 + 8 March 2 pm - 9 pm 2015
  • Maggi Payne
    Maggi Payne
    Sunday: 15 + 22 March
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • Installation fuer einen einzelnen Gast
    Installation fuer einen einzelnen Gast
    Sunday 29 Mars + 5 April 2 pm -9 pm 2015
  • SOUNDACTIVISM DeLaurenti
    SOUNDACTIVISM DeLaurenti
    Sunday 12 + 19 April 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • Dean Rosenthal
    Dean Rosenthal "Island"
    "Island" Sunday 26 April and 3 May 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • Composizione elettroacustica
    Composizione elettroacustica
    Sunday 10 + 17 May 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • knut remond defeat
    knut remond defeat
    Knut Remond "defeat" (2011) Sunday: 24 May 2015 2 pm - 9 pm
  • marcoll_if music
    marcoll_if music
    Sunday 31 May and 7 June 2015, 2pm - 9pm:
  • pajaro suelto
    pajaro suelto
    Sunday 14 + 21 Juni 2015, 2 pm - 9 pm
  • ;)
    ;)
    "unerhört."
    Freitag 26. Juni 19:00 - 23:00 Uhr Samstag 27. Juni 14:00 - 23:00 Uhr Sonntag 28. Juni 14:00 - 19:00 Uhr und am ohrenhoch-Sonntag Sonntag 05. Juli 14:00 - 21:00 Uhr/ 2015
  • alois spaeth
    alois spaeth
    Sunday 12 and 19 July 2015, 2pm - 9pm:

    Extension: Sunday 26 July and 2 August!
  • tina pearson this is for you
    tina pearson this is for you
    Sound installation (Premiere)
    Sunday 9 and 16 August 2015, 2pm - 9pm
  • louise wilson submerged
    louise wilson submerged
    Sunday 23 and 30 August 2015, 2pm - 9pm
  • why is why
    why is why
    Sonntag 6. und 13. September 2015, 14 - 21 Uhr
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 20 and 27 September 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 4 and 11 October 2 pm - 9 pm 2015
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 18 and 25 October 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Installation
    1 and 8 November 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 15 November 2015
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 22 and 29 November 2015
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 6 and 13 December 2015
    2 pm - 9 pm
    premiere
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 20 and 27 December 2015
    2pm - 9pm
    premiere!
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 3 and 10 January
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 17 and 24 January
    2 pm - 9 pm
    2016
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 31 January and 7 February
    2 pm - 9 pm 2016
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 14 and 21 February
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 28 February and 6 March 2016
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 13 and 20 Mars 2016
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 27 Mars and 3 April
    2 pm - 9 pm
    2016
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 10 and 17 April 2016
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 24 April and 1 May 2016
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 8 and 15 May 2016
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 22 and 29 May 2016
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 5 and 12 June 2016
    2pm - 9pm
  • active colorize
    active colorize
    ohrenhoch-Kids and Knut Remond
    present:
    Friday 24 to Sunday 26 June, 2016
    the ohrenhoch-Kids together
    with refugee children.
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 17 and 24 July
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 31 July and 7 August
    2 pm - 9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 14 and 21 August 2016
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 28 August and 4 September 2016
    2pm - 9pm (repeat)
  • #
    #
    soundactivism
    Sunday 11 and 18 September 2016 2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 25 September and 2. October 2016
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 9 and 16 October 2016
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 23 and 30 October 2016
    2 pm -9 pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 6 and 13 November 2016
    repeat: Sunday 14 and 21 February 2016
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 20 and 27 November 2016
    2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 4 and 11 December 2016
    2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 18 and 25 December 2016
    2pm-9pm
  • .
    .
    "soundactivism" Sunday 8, 15, 22 and 29 January 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism 2017
    soundactivism 2017
    Sunday 5 and 12 February 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism 2017
    soundactivism 2017
    Sunday 14 and 21 February 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 5 and 12 March 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism017
    soundactivism017
    Sunday 19 and 26 March 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • OPEN_DOOR ohrenhoch Archiv
    OPEN_DOOR ohrenhoch Archiv
    Sunday 2 April 2017
    2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism017
    soundactivism017
    Sunday 9, 16, 23, 30 April 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism017
    soundactivism017
    Sunday 7 and 14 May 2017
    2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism017
    soundactivism017
    Sunday 21 and 28 May 2017
    2pm-9pm
  • ohrenhoch_Rumori_Kids
    ohrenhoch_Rumori_Kids
    Sunday 18 June 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • ohrenhoch_Rumori_Kids
    ohrenhoch_Rumori_Kids
    Freitag 23. bis Sonntag 25. Juni 2017
  • soundactivism017
    soundactivism017
    Sunday 16 and 23 July 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism017
    soundactivism017
    Sunday 30 July and 6 August 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism 017
    soundactivism 017
    Sunday 20,27 August and 3, 10 September 2017
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism 017
    soundactivism 017
    Sunday 17 and 24 September and
    1 and 8 October 2017
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    soundactivism 017
    Sunday 22,29 October and 5,12 November
    2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism 017
    soundactivism 017
    Sundays: 19 and 26 November, 3 and 10 December 2017, 14:00 - 21:00 hrs
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 17., 24., 31. Dezember 2017 und 7. Januar 2018
    2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism018
    soundactivism018
    Sunday 14, 21, 28 January + 04 February 2018 2pm – 9pm
  • LIVE
    LIVE
    Anna Stereopoulou 28.February 7 pm
  • soundactivism018
    soundactivism018
    Sunday: 11, 18, 25 February und 4 March 2018
    every Sunday 2pm-9pm
  • soundactivism2018
    soundactivism2018
    Sunday 11,18,25 March and 1. April 2018
    2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism 2018
    soundactivism 2018
    Sunday 8, 15, 22 and 29 April 2018
  • soundactivism 2018
    soundactivism 2018
    Sunday 6, 13, 20 and 27 May 2018
    Every Sunday 2pm - 9pm
  • soundactivism
    soundactivism
    Sunday 3., 10. und 17. Juni 2018
    2 pm-9 pm
  • 'ohrenhoch, der Geräuschladen' am Kunstfestival 48 Stunden Neukölln 2018
    'ohrenhoch, der Geräuschladen' am Kunstfestival 48 Stunden Neukölln 2018
    Freitag 22. Juni, 19 – 22 Uhr
    Samstag 23. Juni, 14 – 22 Uhr
    Sonntag 24. Juni, 14 – 19 Uhr
    ...und an den ohrenhoch-Sonntagen
    Sonntag 1., 8. und 15. Juli, 14 – 21 Uhr
  • sound:activism 018
    sound:activism 018
    Sunday: 22,29 July and 5,12 August 2018
  • soundactivism 018
    soundactivism 018
    Sunday 19,26 August and 2, 9 September 2018
  • soundactivism 018
    soundactivism 018
    Sunday 16,23, 30 September and 7 October 2018
  • soundactivism 018
    soundactivism 018
    Sunday 14, 21, 28 October and 4 November 2018
  • soundactivism 018
    soundactivism 018
    Sunday 11,18, 25 November and 2 December 2018
  • soundactivism 018
    soundactivism 018
    Sunday 9, 16, 23 and 30 December 2018
German (DE-CH-AT)English (United Kingdom)

At the Edge of Wilderness

At the Edge of Wilderness | Composer Hildegard Westerkamp | Photographer Florence Debeugny

At the Edge of Wilderness

ohrenhoch presents on Sunday
15 and 22 September 2013, 2pm - 9pm:

At the Edge of Wilderness (2000) 

A Soundscape-Photo Installation about Ghost Towns in British Columbia

Composer: Hildegard Westerkamp
Photographer: Florence Debeugny

When resource industry moves into British Columbia’s landscapes, industrial sites and company towns are cut into the wilderness. The edge between wilderness and such a new place is traditionally knife sharp like the edge between life and a stabbing death. Poison is released into the environment by the violent penetration of industry. Once resources are drained the company moves away leaving its huge, filthy footprints behind, leaving open gaps in mountains and relying on natural processes to absorb the junk heaps, tailings, the waste. Natural rhythms and movements eventually soften the edges, transforming an abandoned industrial site into mysterious rusty shapes and collapsed wooden structures overgrown by moss, weeds, shrubs, and trees. A once noisy, bustling place becomes a quiet ghosttown full of memories. An old industry becomes artifact and lies there like a toothless monster of the past.

Through images and sounds gathered in various ghost towns of the Canadian province British Columbia during Spring and Summer of 2000, At the Edge of Wilderness explores the moment of encounter between the contemporary visitor and the abandoned industrial sites: a strange moment of excitement and magic, discovery and adventure; a moment of questions and stories about human industrial activities of the past and present; a moment of sensing the spirits and ghosts still hovering among the skeletal remains while nature is gradually reclaiming its place. It is as if visitor and place are taking a deep breath together during this encounter, convalescing from injury, contemplating the edge where junk and artefact, destruction and new growth, noise and quiet meet; where perceptions of a shameful past in need of clean–up collide with feelings of pride towards a heritage worth preserving.

About the Sounds
Initially, when we first arrived at the ghost town sites, the many rusty objects and structures were lying around silently, telling us stories of their working life, of their function. But as we moved through the sites, stepping on and through them, “playing” on them, hitting them with various objects, listening, they produced the most fascinating resonances. Whether the sounds came from on an old steam engine or an out–of–tune piano with broken strings, they became the musical instruments for At the Edge of Wilderness, Exploring their acoustic/musical properties in their dilapidated state, brought them to life in surprising ways. In some cases, depending on how they were “played”, they created sounds and rhythms not unlike that of old machinery from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. They are the sounds that carry us from the presence of the existing ghost towns into the imagined past of these places, and they delineate the particular edge that has been created between nature and this form of civilization all over the North American continent. Turning the industrial structures into musical instruments may be a way of exorcising the damage that has been done and is still being done in many cases on this continent and all over the world - a way to make peace or find a balance between the destructive and the creative forces that tend to work side by side in adventurous explorations.

The majority of the sounds for the piece—the natural sounds, soundmaking on the rusty structures, sounds of cars and trains, or of our footsteps and spoken voices— were recorded on the ghost town sites themselves. The recordings of steam trains and of old machinery such as the “Buffalo Iron Worker” come from the environmental sound archives of the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University. HW

Photographer's Comments
When I visited some of BC ghost towns and abandoned mines it seemed as if people had left these places in a hurry like they would when a natural catastrophe, such as a volcano eruption, occurs. These relics portray despair and desolation revealing the core of human beings and the experiences they went through. They transport us to the centre, to the essential matter in life: survival, which demands acceptance and humility.

I look for signs and traces of our past and history. I imagine that people full of hope and ambition tried very hard to find fulfilment of their dreams here. Or they simply wanted to make a living. When it did not work, because of price decreases in ore (such as copper, silver, zinc or gold) or because of fires and floods, or simply because the railway did not make it to these secluded places, they left to try their chance somewhere else.

I like deterioration, abandonment, and destruction. It gives an impression of despair, distress, disillusion, and sadness. People left behind them the structures they had built and the materials they had brought in. Apparently, they had no concern about it all lying around like garbage after their departure, no concern that it would take years for these traces to disappear. The wooden constructions disintegrate relatively quickly back to nature, but not the many metal objects and cement constructions. Vegetation may grow around them and cover them from our sight, but they will continue to lie there for years unabsorbed by nature. And paradoxically, we like it: these ruins provoke our imagination and appeal to our sense of aesthetics. We still want to visit these abandoned sites.

I am very attracted to the chaotic arrangement of these distorted shapes, and the combination of colours, textures, forms and materials. When I look at them, I feel the need to transfer onto photographic film the detailed images that my inner eye perceives. Each time, I walk through these abandoned sites, it feels as if I wander through an untouched museum without organization. FD


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Sponsors of the presentation 'At the Edge of Wilderness' at 'ohrenhoch':
serve-u TECHNICAL SUPPORT, Hacksound Veranstaltungstechnik

 

Hildegard Westerkamp
lectures on topics of listening, environmental sound and acoustic ecology and she conducts soundscape workshops internationally. By focusing the ears’attention to details in the acoustic environment, her compositional work draws attention to the act of listening itself and to the inner, hidden spaces of the environment we inhabit. Her music has been commissioned by CBC Radio, Canada Pavilion at Expo '86, Ars Electronica (Linz), Österreichischer Rundfunk, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien in Germany....She received Honorable Mentions in competitions such as Prix Ars Electronica in Austria, Prix Italia, and the International Competition for Electroacoustic Music in Bourges, as well as aRecommendation for Broadcast from the International Music Council's 4th International Rostrum of Electroacoustic Music... Her articles have been published in Radio Rethink, Kunstforum, Musicworks, MusikTexte... For an extensive exploration into her compositional work see Andra McCartney’s Sounding Places: Situated Conversations through the Soundscape Work of Hildegard Westerkamp, York University, Toronto, 1999, and in the internet at: http://www.sfu.ca/~westerka/compositions.html

As part of Vancouver New Music’s yearly season she has coordinated and led Soundwalks for the last eight years, which in turn has led to the creation of The Vancouver Soundwalk CollectiveA founding member of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE), and co-editor of its journal Soundscape, Westerkamp was a researcher for R. Murray Schafer's World Soundscape Project, and she has taught acoustic communication at Simon Fraser University with colleague Barry Truax.

Website Hildegard Westerkamp

Florence Debeugny
Raised in France and immersed in reclaimed architecture of past eras, Florence Debeugny consequently focus her artistic practice on architecture photography to examine the changes taking place in British Columbia (BC, Canada) industrial environments where she documents abandoned or partially run down structures before they disappear. For 13 years, her photo-documentary work has included the mining, fishing and forestry industries and addressed the issues of how quickly buildings, closed for economic reasons, disappear along with the elements of culture they encompass.

In video installations such as Almost Gone, Maillardville 100 years and beyond, and Giants Leap, she has integrated her photographs with ambient sounds, video and interviews to explicitly convey the layers of human experience impacted by industrial and urban changes. Her work raises questions of progress, architecture preservation, housing and culture.

She has also developed a photographic abstraction style as seen in the series Deterioration, Through, Precaution and Night Language. In industrial sites, she comes across shapes, lines and layers within the larger visual context which she studies closely, producing abstracted images, sometimes involving optical effect. Rather than digitally transforming the images, her artistic process focuses on careful composition while photographing, to deepen her sense of observation.

Website Florence Debeugny

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