XXIst Century Messenger

XXIst CENTURY MESSENGER:  The artist-thinker as a letter carrier

This project aims to connect people symbolically through the territories of my Sound Development City Expedition 2015 (Belgrade, Thessaloniki and Athens) by rendering a net of correspondence about urban life, its landscape and infrastructure. 

The “messages“ consist of old-fashioned letters elaborated with the contents of the interviews I made during my trajectory. I played the role of a chasqui* – an ancient Inca messenger – to deliver the mail to the diverse interviewees I met in the aforementioned cities. 

In order to create the textual, visual and sonic materials of the letters I used different thinking methods: ethnographic for the texts, cognitive-scientific for the images and Dadaist for the sounds. This way, the artist (me) becomes a medium, converting artistic thinking into a form of making art. By placing myself in between people and their urban life, I became a medium, consequently rendering a collective and applied thought compilation about contemporary urban life.

Every letter has two digital copies to provide a tangible record of the experience.

This is how I implemented my project:

I interviewed diverse people during my trajectory --from Serbia to Greece-- using three different thinking methods:

THINGS AND THINKING – TECHNOLOGY AND SELF for the texts:  Ethnographic method developed by Prof. Sherry Turkle (sociologist and personality psychologist) that unveils deep thoughts and strong images in the interviewee. It consists in asking a person questions about his/her intimate relationship with a chosen object he/she considers important. Thus, the architectonic object, public infrastructure, urban space or mode of transportation becomes an evocative object that operates as an excuse to go deeper into personal, existential and daily subjects of urban life. 

THINKING OF THINKING for the images:  A endless thinking method based on what one thinks about what one thinks about something.  I learnt this concept in the class The Society of Mind given by Prof. Marvin Minsky, a cognitive scientist. So, I asked the interviewees to give me an image of what they think about their particular evocative object, or about how they relate to it. As a result, I made the drawings of the interviewees’ evocative objects with the idea I had of their ideas.

DADAIST methods for the sounds in order to translate into text the sounds of the environment, the urban space or the building chosen.

I made the transcripts of all the interviews.

I wrote the letters by hand and made the drawings using pencils and watercolors.

A SHORT PRESENTATION (description and some images) about the contents and other details of each interview I made during the expedition.

WHAT (evocative object)

WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE

WHO I INTERVIEWED

PROFESSION/OCCUPATION of the interviewee.

WE MET (where and how we met).

ASKED ME TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND OF

ASKED ME TO DRAW

WHAT (evocative object): CEREMONIAL HALL 

WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE: Headquarters of the Jewish Community of Belgrade

WHO I INTERVIEWED: Danijel

PROFESSION/OCCUPATION: Lawyer, President of the Jewish Community Belgrade

WE MET by appointment kindly set by Sound Development City crew.

ASKED ME TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND OF: I forgot to ask him for a sound. But, Danijel talked about the sounds and the different types of music played in this hall because of the diverse activities that take place in it: lectures, music concerts (classical music) and even parties with Dj´s, hip hop groups, and rock or drum-and-base bands. In the near future, the space will be used as a jazz bar and for tango lessons.

WHAT (evocative object):  MUSEUM OF YUGOSLAV HISTORY

WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE: In one of the exhibition spaces of this museum, Belgrade

WHO I INTERVIEWED: Ana

PROFESSION/OCCUPATION: Curator, Art historian.

WE MET by appointment kindly set by Sound Development City crew.

ASKED ME TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND OF: people or groups of museum visitors walking, through the corridor located next to her office, in their direction to the main entrance.

Sound souvenir: High heels at the Museum of Yugoslavia History

Sound souvenir: MUSEUM OF YUGOSLAVIA HISTORY, Belgrade.

This is a short recording of a video installation art work exhibited in the museum. It is about a famous children’s choir that performed during the time of socialist Yugoslavia. Reunited for this piece, these children, nowadays grown-ups ,sing a popular song they used to sing when they belonged to the choir. The song is called  “My country is the most beautiful of all” and it is about the beauty of the former country of Yugoslavia.

For more information about this piece created by Serbian artist Ana Adamovic please check the link below.

http://www.anaadamovic.com/My_country_is_the_most_beautiful_of_all.html

Sound souvenir: CURTAINS OF THE MUSEUM OF YUGOSLAVIA HISTORY, Belgrade.

WHAT (evocative object): A HOUSE AT KNEZ MIHAILOVA PEDESTRIAN STREET 

WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE: Terrace of a coffee shop, Knez Mihailova, Belgrade.

WHO I INTERVIEWED: Ivana

PROFESSION/OCCUPATION: Theater and cultural producer.

WE MET because she was helping with the production of Sound Development City expedition in Belgrade. So I asked her to show me her place.

ASKED ME TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND OF: Her street when there are a lot of people.

Sound Souvenir: KNEZ MIHAILOVA PEDESTRIAN STREET, Belgrade.

Sound souvenir: KNEZ MIHAILOVA PEDESTRIAN STREET, Belgrade.

WHAT (evocative object): ZELENI VENAC/ PIJACA (Green Wreath market)

WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE: Selling stand, inside the market in Belgrade

WHO I INTERVIEWED: Adi 

PROFESSION/OCCUPATION: Sells grains, cereals, dry fruits and similar products in the market.

WE MET by chance. Since I was very intrigued by the roofs of the market I decided to visit it.  I asked a couple of seller if they spoke English. So, they told me this very nice guy did. The market was quite empty as it was around. 4.30 PM. So, I asked him if I could interview him and he accepted.

ASKED ME TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND OF: the market when it is crowded. (between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. every day). I might add the sound of the PVC roof when hit by the rain in order to add some beautiful natural drama.

Sound Souvenir:  ZELENI VENAC/ PIJACA (Green Wreath market), Belgrade.

Sound Souvenir:  ZELENI VENAC/ PIJACA (Green Wreath market), Belgrade.

WHAT (evocative object): NIKOLA TESLA MUSEUM

WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE: Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade

WHO I INTERVIEWED: Rastko

PROFESSION/OCCUPATION: Electric engineer, Nikola Tesla Museum guide

WE MET by chance. I went to the museum because I was curious to learn more about Tesla’s work and his life. People working at the ticket office suggested me to talk to Rastko, who was actually kind of new in the museum.

ASKED ME TO TRANSMIT THE SOUND OF: Nikola Tesla’s Egg of Columbus (check the  image above).

“...At the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Tesla demonstrated a device he constructed known as the "Egg of Columbus. It was used to demonstrate and explain the principles of the rotating magnetic field model and the induction motor. Tesla's Egg of Columbus performed the feat of Columbus with a copper egg in a rotating magnetic field. The egg spins on its major axis, standing on end due to gyroscopic action.Tesla's device used a toroidal iron core stator on which four electromagnetic coils were wound. The device was powered by a two-phase alternating current source (such as a variable speed alternator) to create the rotating magnetic field. The device operated on 25 to 300 hertz frequency. The ideal operating frequency was described as being between 35 and 40 hertz.”

Text source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla%27s_Egg_of_Columbus

Sound souvenir: NIKOLA TESLA MUSEUM, Belgrade.

Electricity demonstration using Tesla’s wireless power transmission invention.

Sound souvenir: NIKOLA TESLA MUSEUM, Belgrade.

The museum guide needs a volunteer to try another Tesla’s electricity device.