Kombiticket & Kingston University Sound Workshop

As a starting collaboration and inspired by the sound features of the current exhibition at the NGBK 'Snoring in the USA' by Kristina Leko and David Smithson, which opens tonight, I organised a preview of the show and a discussion with David for a group of visiting students from the graphic design and illustration department of Kingston University, who were over with their tutor Cathy Gale
We met up on Wednesday and had an informal chat with the artists about their work and I then invited them back the following day to participate in a workshop looking at sounds of the city and how to recreate them using their voices. A total of 12 students went out in three separate groups to investigate the immediate vicinity of the NGBK, north Kreuzberg, and took notes, recordings and made sketches of sounds that struck a chord (no pun intended) with them and somehow related to them as being very indicitive of the surroundings. They then returned to the events room upstairs at the NGBK and worked on a kind of timeline of sounds and 'character sounds' for each of them to have a go at imitating vocally.

We placed a zoom recorder on the table, distributed the roles and away we went!

We managed 3 sets of recordings, each circa 50 seconds long, including such wild and wonderous sounds as trams starting up, buses coming to a halt, "woof woof pooch" and "cow little cow", 'clinging' keys and so on and so forth

The students will take home the recordings and develop a short film based on the sounds they have created. This will be sent back to Berlin to the NGBK and screened sometime in May! Exciting!!

Thanks to Cathy Gale and her colleagues and all the participating students from Kingston.

Clubroom Phase 2 Opening!

Second day of Clubroom and official begin of the symposium at Podewil yesterday. Selina, Max, Leon, Tom, Tomasso, Stine, Becci, Shari, Christin, Antonia, Greg and Johnny from the Kurt Tucholsky School in Pankow built an amazing and particularly scenic clubroom complete with inflatible desert landscape, chicken-pox ceiling, brand new doorway, stage with backstage and bodyguards, Jackson Pollock memorial wallpaper and blue twirly curtains. The author Feridun Zaimoglu was virtually TAGGED with the tagtool and a band ohne Namen was put together in the spur of the moment, singing Metallica and their own composition about giving their livers a rest. A quiz was played to win passes to the backstage area (I was the happy recipient of backstage pass number 5!).
Here are a few photos:

Clubroom Phase 2

As part of the symposium about school partnerships, I am working with a class from the Kurt Tucholwsky school in Pankow on the second phase of the Clubroom project, started in the NGBK in January. This is under even more pressure of time than in the NGBK - we are occupying part of the enormous foyer at Podewil, in Klosterstrasse Berlin, and yesterday over a 5 hour stint managed to create a new stage, new walls and a new ceiling, as well as a greenhouse-filling amount of inflatable cacti. We'll again be collaborating with Andreas Dzialocha from the Berlin contingency of Tagtool on an animated program involving Feridun Zaimoglu, and a short one-song concert as well as a music quiz to win passes to the backstage area is planned for the afternoon sessions!

Unfortunately this event is not open - full capacity of 300 participants has been reached. I will be posting photos up here as of tomorrow documenting the growth of the clubroom however! Here are a couple of tasters:

Stage with backstage area

Preparation of a wall with corridor

New wall segment

Clothes for the Show

Wonderful presentation of the workshop results 'Clothes for the Show' that has been running over the last 4 weeks with Frau Schönherr's Kunstleistungskurs at the Menzel Oberschule. Samata, Ehare, Iyman, Zuhal, Shiela, Manar, Hacer, Julia, Han Ping and Yuhuang all came up with fabulous clothing creations, designed specifically for selected artworks from the 'Selected Artists 2010' exhibition at the NGBK which came to an end today.

After a trip to the NGBK, artworks were selected, personal interpretations concerning the work were noted and then processed and translated as designs that we fabricated in the school.

The collection was presented by some of the designers themselves: Han Ping, Julia, Zuhal, Iyman and Shiela all took centre stage as Catriona read out the conceptual descriptions and thought-processes behind the amazing creations! Patsy Cline crooned along in the background and an impressed audience followed us through the show.

Elahe & Manar's dress for Egill Saebjörnsson's work

Hacer's design for the work by Carsten Fock

Han Ping presents her own design for Heimo Lattner's piece

Iyman demonstrates her costume for Nezaket Ekici's videowork

Julia prepares her 'measuring glove'!

Zuhal shows off the armband for Egill's work

Samata's design for the work by Amir Fattal is elegantly worn by Han Ping

Shiela presents her creation for the Ulf Aminde piece '12,000 euros'

Yuhuang and Han Ping (model) present his design for the paintings of Lars Teichmann

here a closer view

Zuhal presenting and describing her accessories, designed for Swantje Heilscher's wall piece

 

Julia stands in front of the photos of Ingo Gerken, for which she designed this costume

And that was that! Thanks to all the designers (!) and also thanks to Claudia Schönherr-Heinrich, Edda Kapasch, Realismus Studio, the artists and Semele Sangla.

Clubroom Radio Podcast to download!

Here is a link to the ridiculously exciting Clubroom 'Closure' show that was broadcast live at Reboot.FM in HDKW on Sunday 12th of January, 2011! Here in this soundbyte you can find the answers to the mind-boggling quiz and listen again to the fabulous jingles that were produced on one of the days at the Clubroom, dance a little to the music selection and hear all about the concept and happenings at Clubroom during it's weeklong existence in the NGBK in January!