The Bystrzyca River - Sound Installation
The installation is founded upon a simple premise of relocation: of translocating the sounds of the Bystrzyca River, recorded on a wintry morning, to the centre of Lublin, namely to the official building of the Municipality of Lublin in Wieniawska Street. The aim of the installation is to create a meeting of these two spaces – an aural clash between the river and the city’s architecture, the nature and nurture. White cuboids placed on the building’s first floor contain sound sources. The cuboids’ location and arrangement correspond to the river’s course while their colour segues seamlessly with the interior design of the first-floor office space. Each cuboid bears a map illustrating the river’s course, with a red dot marking the spot from which each sound was “extracted”.
The murmur of water is conducive to human’s wellbeing in a number of ways, including soothing (e.g. lulling small children to sleep), alleviating the effects of migraine, reducing hypersensitivity to sound, and even treating anxiety and ADHD. The bringing together of the sound of the Bystrzyca River, which has been an inextricable ingredient of the landscape of Lublin, and the somewhat raw interior design of the office building will decontextualize the murmur, making it less recognizable and less identifiable with its original source. As a result, all the people receptive to the sounds of the installation will be invited to take a stroll alongside the banks of the river, thanks to which they will redefine their own roles in the city.
The aim of the creators of the installation is to draw the public’s attention to the state of the river itself and to the condition of its vicinity, which – especially the lower-course – ought to be amended and reintegrated into the residents’ consciousness.
Creators:
Centre for Potential Research (Centrum Badania Możliwości)
Maciej Połynko
Karol Rębisz
Contact:
Pracownia Sztuki Zaangażowanej Społecznie "Rewiry"
tel.: 81 466 61 22
e-mail: rewiry.lublin@gmail.com