sven piayda | 'abyss'
SOUND OF THE MULTITUDE'
pedestrian
underpass at the konrad adenauer bridge in mülheim (urbane künste ruhr)
2023-05-05
– 2023-06-25 (2023-06-10)
urbanekuensteruhr.de/de/project/the-sound-of-the-multitude
we
are delighted to announce that sven piayda´s sound piece ‘abyss’ was featured
on nik nowak´s ‘sound of the multitude’ sound sculpture as installed at the pedestrian
underpass at the konrad adenauer bridge in mülheim on behalf of urbane künste
ruhr. piayda´s sound work – which was originally developed on commission for the
car park exhibition ‘stadt park haus’ at kulturzentrum herne in march 2021 – was
played on june 10, 2023 at 11.45h. the spot was opened by the mash-up track ‘6548
prov aiida’ by AESTATE. we would like to have announced the sound exhibition/performance
but the has been no information on time schedules in advance.
the pedestrian
underpass at the konrad adenauer bridge in mülheim is not an inviting place, despite
a view of the river slowly streaming past. rather, the concrete pillars, graffiti,
and low passageway give rise to an urban ‘non-place’ where walkers strolling along
the idyllic path next to the ruhr river suddenly find themselves confronted with
traces of an efficient metropolitan traffic system. it is precisely here that
nik nowak has transformed an overseas shipping container into a seemingly monolithic,
movable sound sculpture of industrial dimensions. as a participatory installation,
it creates a site for discourse and for musical, acoustic intervention. the daily
programme also contains suggestions and compositions uploaded on the associated
website and uses the multitude as an amplifier and instrument whose extraordinary
sound experience affects the whole body.
this project is both an appeal
to society and a megaphone amplifying different voices and sounds in this context,
a society shaped by migration routes over multiple generations and by phases of
industrial and post-industrial development. taking as a point of departure the
question of who we are as a society, the berlin-based artist nik nowak (b. 1981
in mainz) confronts virtuality with materiality, while thematising the relationship
between private life and the public sphere in the digital age. his multimedia
work is focused on the affective dimensions and potentials of sound and space
that redefine the formal boundaries between installation and sculpture. for nowak,
sound is both a source of identity and an element influencing society. here, he
is particularly interested in the implementation of mobile sound systems as cultural
transmitters and as a global and trans-temporal phenomena, and in contrast, their
use as acoustic weapons in warfare.
the project the sound of the multitude
is supported by the karin und uwe hollweg stiftung.
svenpiayda.com/photography
