SCHAPERSTRAßE 24 
A four hands piece with Jessica Ekomane
Audio, 6'41"
2012

This piece has been selected for the Phonurgia Award 2012 and presented at Ars Electronica 2012 (Linz) and Haus der Berliner Festpiele (Berlin)

The project starts with the idea: to hear a building as an organism. Its breathing, its rhythm and the different elements that makes it alive. Not only do we hear the body of the present time – but we also listen to the memory of this organic entity, invoked by archive documents from different eras.

Shaperstraße 24 appears as a cryptic name referring to the position of the site where our sonic experiment took place: The Berliner Festspielhaus. This place is a theatre venue in the heart of western Berlin, dating back from 1951, that has housed legendary performances by Miles Davis, Pina Bausch and the likes during its half a century of existence.

The story of our piece refuses to make use of a classic narrative structure; neither does it follow any pre-established chronological path. We tried to paint the portrait of a building, to create a living picture, with the use of abstract sounds.

Samples credits (archives from the Berliner Festpielhaus):

Die Ermittlungby Peter Weiß, Directed by Erwin Piscator, 1965
Barry Guy New Orchestra, 2009
Umstellt, Michael Wildenheim, 23rd May 1992
Daniele Levi, artist talk, 3rd May 1991
Timon von Athen, artist talk, 4th May 1991
Theatertreffen für Jugendliche 2012 and Spielclub Drei Stuttgart, 1st June 2012