Axel Lapp Projects & ESA residency 2007
berlin coordinates
A series of seven drawings, each similar in size (A4), are presented to the viewer on entering the project space. An absence of mark making in any conventional drawing material leaves the drawings clean and sparse. This quality and the careful, ordered pattern which is created by an intervention on the surface (initially an optical challenge - is the relief an embossment or depression?), together create a benchmark for a contextual interpretation. Connotations and analogy with architectural and/or design drawings mark my contribution (albeit in minimal terms) to my engagement with the distinct architecture that I have encountered during the residency.
The mystery which lies behind the creation of the seven A4 drawings produces some interesting responses as visitors to the space study the placement of raised squares which are located in slightly different positions on an invisible grid within each piece. In an attempt to decipher their meaning, a number of comments are made: ‘it’s a digital printout of data of some description; it’s an aerial view of planning for a town development site; it’s braille or a similar language code; it’s the pattern made if a musical score were broken down into units - as in the raised digits which are brushed by the comb in an old musical box; it’s a visual translation of the audio sound piece which is playing through the headphones on the adjacent wall’ ... etc.
Their actual origin lies in a series of visual recordings which I made each night when I returned home to our apartment on the 20th floor of a high-rise block. I made a photographic and drawn document for a week (hence the number of drawings) of the opposite flat (23 floors high and 10 rooms across). I then developed the drawings by placing a raised square on a sheet of blank A4 paper in the ‘imagined block’ to represent the point at which a window was illuminated at the time of my recording. Because the placement of the squares is determined by the light in a room being turned ‘on’, this renders the sequence in the drawings entirely dependent upon the activities of the residents in the opposite flat from ours.
The true meaning behind the structure of the drawings is quite often far removed from many of the viewers’ initial perceptions and seems, to some extent, rather banal by comparison (if somewhat amusing). However, I do not feel that the true explanation renders any other interpretations invalid. The very nature of researching such a vast, complex and multifaceted city evokes so many responses that it seemed fitting to produce something which, by it’s very nature, could be open to many different interpretations. For my methods of surveillance to have such innocent and harmless intentions towards an aesthetic outcome and for the production of the work to rely so heavily on the inhabitants of the city, I feel provides a heartfelt response to the exploration and discovery which I have experienced during my time in Berlin.
A short film was also produced by covert noise research as a result of this research. To view the film Berlin Nacht click here
The mystery which lies behind the creation of the seven A4 drawings produces some interesting responses as visitors to the space study the placement of raised squares which are located in slightly different positions on an invisible grid within each piece. In an attempt to decipher their meaning, a number of comments are made: ‘it’s a digital printout of data of some description; it’s an aerial view of planning for a town development site; it’s braille or a similar language code; it’s the pattern made if a musical score were broken down into units - as in the raised digits which are brushed by the comb in an old musical box; it’s a visual translation of the audio sound piece which is playing through the headphones on the adjacent wall’ ... etc.
Their actual origin lies in a series of visual recordings which I made each night when I returned home to our apartment on the 20th floor of a high-rise block. I made a photographic and drawn document for a week (hence the number of drawings) of the opposite flat (23 floors high and 10 rooms across). I then developed the drawings by placing a raised square on a sheet of blank A4 paper in the ‘imagined block’ to represent the point at which a window was illuminated at the time of my recording. Because the placement of the squares is determined by the light in a room being turned ‘on’, this renders the sequence in the drawings entirely dependent upon the activities of the residents in the opposite flat from ours.
The true meaning behind the structure of the drawings is quite often far removed from many of the viewers’ initial perceptions and seems, to some extent, rather banal by comparison (if somewhat amusing). However, I do not feel that the true explanation renders any other interpretations invalid. The very nature of researching such a vast, complex and multifaceted city evokes so many responses that it seemed fitting to produce something which, by it’s very nature, could be open to many different interpretations. For my methods of surveillance to have such innocent and harmless intentions towards an aesthetic outcome and for the production of the work to rely so heavily on the inhabitants of the city, I feel provides a heartfelt response to the exploration and discovery which I have experienced during my time in Berlin.
A short film was also produced by covert noise research as a result of this research. To view the film Berlin Nacht click here
