Tracks public audiowalks Brussels
Guided audiowalks in Brussels, by Yannick Guédon and Confluences (Franziska Windisch & Giulia Vismara)
29/08/2021
Different points of departure – see programme below. In English, unless indicated otherwise. For free
On Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August, different public activities will be hosted around the new smartphone app for audiowalks, Tracks. In most cases, the artists introduce and lead their audiowalks themselves. Jubilee, Beursschouwburg, BNA-BBOT, Overtoon, Q-O2, and Soundtrackcity are happy to invite you to this foretaste of Tracks. This app is now in testing phase and will presented to the public soon. On 28 August, sound artists present their work at different locations in Brussels. (Read more here)
On 29 August, there are two guided audio walks, by Yannick Guédon and Confluences (Franziska Windisch & Giulia Vismara):
13:00 – 13:50 Yannick Guédon
15:00 – 16:45 Confluences (Franziska Windisch & Giulia Vismara)
17:00 – …. Round-up get-together, outside Komplot (Square Albert I 13, 1070 Brussels)
Yannick Guédon – Un champ au milieu (Overtoon)
How do two landscapes cohabit?
A vocal landscape heard on headphones, and the one around us, heard through headphones.
How does one feed the listening process of the other and vice versa?
The vocal score will develop according to a progression of timbres, minimal and slow. It will colour the different sonic landscapes it encounters and, in return, will become impregnated with them in order to play on them as if in shadow. In this respect, we will define a sound palette that will play with the different sound markers along the walk, like bio-indicator plants, offering multiple data on the soil that welcomes them.
We will also explore the ways in which the voice can extract itself from the different sound environments to better intercept them.
In relation to the system proposed by ‘echoes’, the aim will be to understand the type of continuity that the voice can establish. Similarly, what type of silence will allow us to listen to the places we pass through?
There will necessarily be a question of threshold. How can a muffled sound interact with a high-volume sound environment?
We will also try to track down the existence of pre-existing sound traces, such as pre-echoes or anticipated echoes. An attempt to put us on the lookout, on the prowl, while preserving periods that are more conducive to rambling. Throughout this stroll, the listener will navigate alternately from a concentrated listening to a peripheral listening.
Starting point: In front of Hallepoort/Porte de Hal, St Gilles side
Date & time: Sunday 29/8, 13:00
± 40 minutes
Franziska Windisch & Giulia Vismara – Soundwalk Kuregem (Q-O2)
Soundwalk Kuregem/Cureghem is an invitation to listen closely to one’s surroundings and discover how it actually sounds to live together in this neighborhood, being part of a more than human world. Equipped with their own smartphones and headphones people can follow a path through Kuregem with 16 stations. Accompanied by a voice they are encouraged to (re)discover and engage in the places with their senses.
Realisation, recording & editing: Giulia Vismara, Franziska Windisch
Speakers: Rebecca Lenaerts (NL), Juliette Soudan (FR)
Languages: Dutch (“Soundwalk Kuregem”) or French (“Soundwalk Cureghem”).
Starting point: Raadsplein / Place de Conseil, Anderlecht
Date & time: Sunday 29/8, 15:00
3,7 km, ± 80 minutes
Please bring your own smartphone. It’s advised to first install the app ‘Echoes interactive sound walks’, with which the audiowalks will be taking place for this first public moment of Tracks. In order to save bandwidth, you can already download the audiowalks you participate in while on a wifi network.
Audiowalks are guided walks thoughtfully combined with the sensory attention of listening. They offer stories, music, sound experiments, and all kinds of sensory information you might otherwise miss. Sight, scent, and feeling are present, but sounds take the lead. This modulates one’s usual sense of body and consciousness, promoting a new understanding of the environment. With every step, hear the artist play with sound, experiment with composition, and lead you to new perceptions. Think of a film, where sound and image are strongly linked and controlled by the artist. In audiowalks, the ‘point of view’ becomes the ‘point of hearing’.
Tracks is a new app designed for audiowalks. Offering a growing collection of soundwalks and many functionalities, Tracks connects anyone with a smartphone to the work of sound artists to be discovered in the most immediate way. The app is a further development of Soundtrackcity, the app for soundwalks that Roeland Landegent first developed for Soundtrackcity in 2013. The release of Tracks is planned for autumn 2021.
Note: You are responsible for your own safety on the streets. Use half-open headphones, so that you can hear the world around you. Never walk the audiowalks with closed headphones. None of the Tracks partner organisations or any of the artists are liable for any inconvenience or harm that may result from the participation in these soundwalks.
Tracks is supported by the Brussels Capital Region and visit.brussels
This event is kindly supported by the Culturele Activiteitenpremie of the Vlaamse Overheid