Participatory working
Our projects encourage active participation and involvement from all participants.
Media artist Wolf Nkole Helzle and sound artist Mirja Wellmann collaborate to develop site-specific formats in which visual and acoustic perception intertwine on an equal footing. Together with local groups, they design walks in the vicinity of each location. During these walks, for example, “wonders by the wayside” – details that usually go unnoticed in everyday life – are photographed and also explored through sound.
In the studio, the photographic works are transferred from the cameras into a database so that, later on, a large moving image can be formed from thousands of such ‘mosaic pieces’ using the specially developed myMatrix platform. In parallel, during joint audio tours, notes of the sounds of places are transcribed onto paper. Combined with field recordings by the sound artist, these evolve into an audio piece in the style of concrete poetry, which is composed, recorded and experienced simultaneously with the images.
This creates a shared sensory experience where sight and sound come together. The event is also suitable for children.
Procedure
The public is invited to take part in the data collection by accompanying the artists on their photographic and auditory explorations. First, the target groups will be selected and a schedule of one to two weeks drawn up during which the recordings can take place.
During this period, data will be collected. This data consists of thousands of images of the area to be defined for the project, as well as sounds and recorded audio experiences, which will be contributed with the utmost care by the participating artists.
As soon as all the data is available (i.e. the images have been transferred from the cameras and processed), it is fed into a database designed for this purpose.
Mirja Wellmann analyses the audio recordings of the participants and compiles the noted sounds into an audio piece. These are then combined with the field recordings made at the locations to create a soundscape. The result is an audio piece composed of sounds and voices.
Presentation
Once all the images have been uploaded to the myMatrix database, the projection begins. The images can be projected onto surfaces such as walls using one or more video projectors, or displayed on screens.
The images are layered in three dimensions and move through the space according to an invisible narrative. Visitors can step right into this matrix, this visual and auditory adventure. And in doing so, encounter their region and its landscape, perceiving them anew through thousands of facets.
The audio piece, featuring sounds and the voice of Mirja Wellmann, is played simultaneously with the images, creating a very special interplay between image and sound.
Feedback
Participants consistently report afterwards that, since taking part in the project, they perceive things differently, hear things differently and pay closer attention to their surroundings. They have become more mindful of their surroundings, with a greater sense of being present in the here and now. The realisation that people perceive the same place so differently, both visually and acoustically, is also a particularly eye-opening experience.
As artists, what strikes us most is just how amazed people are by the new levels of awareness they have gained. People think they know themselves well, yet they discover many new sides to themselves. The process of working together as a group is also found to be very enriching.
In our experience, careful preparation contributes to the success of the project. This includes planning and designing the project in collaboration with the relevant institution, and inviting people to take part via social media or targeted calls for participation.
we come to you
Our collective works locally in partnership with cultural institutions such as museums, galleries, art associations, socio-cultural organisations, cultural departments of local authorities, art colleges, companies and festivals.
The first step involves working together to develop a concept and explore ideas and possibilities. We’d be happy to visit you.
Examples of an installation at YouTube
The artists
Media artist Wolf Nkole Helzle works primarily with photography, video, installations and performances. Many of his works are participatory in nature: spectators, guests, passers-by and visitors become part of the artistic process.
Helzle is responsible for developing the overall concept for myMatrix and the software – in collaboration with students from the Technical Universities of Munich and Nuremberg – as well as for collecting the images. He also usually acts as project manager.
Sound artist Mirja Wellmann is known for her extraordinary acoustic perception of places and is often described as a “professional listener”.
She creates audio records of selected locations by listening intently for long periods and identifying the characteristic sounds of a place. In participatory projects with the local community, such as the audio tour, sound notations are produced which the artist then transforms into audio pieces in a form of concrete poetry.
http://www.mirja-wellmann.de/biografie/
The Development Partnership
The application, developed in collaboration with the IF-Lab at InterFace AG in Unterhaching near Munich – with support from the Department of Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich – and media artist Wolf Nkole Helzle, is a server-based web application.
