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| #selfperformance #introactivity #openheadphones #citywalk |
CREDITS
Concepts, compositions & recordings: David Helbich
Scores, text & voice: David Helbich
Design & illustrations: Miriam Hempel | daretoknow.co.uk
Published by: Marres, House for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht
Printer: Drukkerij Snel
Published: 2021, First published: 2013
> get the book/guide and some headphones at Marres in Maastricht
If you cannot make it to Marres, but you still want to purchase a book, please contact me.
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| pictures Miriam Hempel (instagram: daretoknow) |
This book, along with eleven soundtracks, takes you on a trip to some very special places in the middle of this city, invisible to most visitors but less than an arm’s length away: a trip to the parallel universe of sensations and imagination, contemplative in some parts, absurd in others. Maastricht Tracks consists of sound compositions and instructions, which are divided between the book and the audio files. With the help of your participation the work will come to life and start to actually exist.You are the performer and the audience at the same time.
Maastricht Tracks approaches sensory perception as a performative act. It emphasizes the impact we can have on our own auditory, visual, or physical experiences, not only by being active, but also imaginative. We can perform hearing, we can play seeing, and we can act feeling.
Maastricht Tracks in its entirety stands for a kind of manifesto of instructional performance and sound art. Nevertheless, the pieces are independent of each other to a certain extent. You can experience them individually and in any order.
The pieces are as much tailored to specific places as they are generic. The map shows the intended locations for the tracks, but you can easily substitute most of them for other similar situations in the city, or any city you find yourself in.
As well as this book you will need “open” headphones and an audio player (e.g. your phone or an mp3 player) that can play back the eleven audio files. Headphones are open when they still let environmental sounds in. The sounds of your surroundings and the audio files are meant to blend.
Each of the pieces focuses on a different relationship between you, me, and the city: you — the performer and audience; me — the artist; and the city — our environment. In a mix of actions and contemplation, the potential of headphones — both their technology and their social connotations — is channeled into various setups, some of which are fully-fledged listening pieces, others not at all.
