up the tower
Listening Walk, Den Haag Centrum
25'
05.12.24
in Collaboration with Keya Hedlin, Biel Serena i Riba, and Michał Dąbrowski
SCRIPT
1. starting-point at the bird place
"We will start our listening walk with a little exercise. You all brought pen and paper. We’d like you to listen for three minutes to the environment and simultaneously write down every sound you’re listening to at this specific moment. never stop writing, just keep on writing and listening. Focus your attention on the sounds on ground-level. - Then try to focus on sounds above your head. If you don’t like writing, focus on space and sound, draw lines and shapes, how would you draw the visual representation of the sound you are listening to right now? You can also repeat stuff - just listen and write/draw. We hope you all tuned into the city noises. Now we’d like to cross the street and walk through the alley. Throughout the walk try to reflect on if/how your pulse is changing depending on the acoustics of the environment. We will move in silence. Watch out for the traffic."
(walking through the quiet streets)
2. in front of the tower:
"Now we’re standing in front of this Tower and we will soon be up there (pointing to peak). We invite everyone to participate in walking up the tower, if you feel uncomfortable at any point, feel free to leave! We will walk up together. Listen attentively. Walk in silence. Reflect on how the city’s soundscape evolves as we ascend."
going up the tower:
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(be aware of the tempo)
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(we will walk in silence)
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(bluetooth speakers in our backpacks are turned on already)
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(we press play in the beginning of walking up - track will start to play somewhere in the middle of the path up the tower)
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(we will gather on top, urban field recordings of the hague continue, we amplify the city)
3. end-point on top of the tower
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Did the city’s acoustic environment change throughout the walk?
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When going through these different passages: Did your pulse change?
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Have you heard new sounds up here compared to your notes you took in the beginning?
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Did the sounds on ground-level change in comparison to up here?
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We will stop our walk by listening for 2 minutes again. If you like, close your eyes.
(2mins) -
Thank you.