There, there: collecting sonic odds and ends

Throughout the year, the “There, there” working group has embarked on a unique journey of collecting and reusing sounds – a process akin to upcycling and recycling. This creative endeavor involved gathering unused sounds created during various project works, rehearsals, and improvisation sessions at home, all for the benefit of the “There, there” podcast. These collected bits and pieces are not just random audio fragments; they are products of love and labor, often crafted in unpaid hours, but invaluable in their contribution to the group’s creative mission.

Embracing a strategy of not wasting any creative work, “There, there” team has been diligently archiving these “behind-the-scenes” elements of their year-long work on different projects. This practice aligns perfectly with the project’s focus on the community aspect of the School of Commons program. By salvaging these sounds, the group honors the time and effort invested in them, ensuring that no part of the creative process goes unnoticed or unappreciated.

To provide context to this endeavor, it’s worth mentioning the open-for-public projects that have generated these soundscapes and compositions that are yet to be released as part of “There, there” podcast series in 2024. Those yet unpublished auditory experiences that, until now, haven’t been heard by the public but were produced over the course of work towards public events (see those public events, concerts, and performances listed below). Collected “behind-the-scene(s)” sound pieces are not mere leftovers; they are rich, textured layers of auditory experience, each telling its own story and adding depth to the overall narrative of the “There, there” podcast.

In late November, aligned with the end of the year 2023, “There, there” working group has sat down to archive and systematize all of the sonic odds and ends that will be now worked through with the aim of informing the podcast. We hope that our approach will be encouraging other artists to develop their own holistic approach to artistic creation, one that values every part of the creative process as well as allows for a practice that feeds other projects in an interdisciplinary nature. By showcasing these unseen and unheard elements in their podcast, they not only give life to these sounds but also pay homage to the rich, communal journey of creativity and collaboration that has defined their year within the School of Commons program.

A calendar of musical and sound events that happened throughout the year 2023 that allowed to experiment, generate and collect the sound material for the release of the podcasts in 2024:



Sound piece for CTM 2023
The work was created as part of an ongoing engagement in community work with refugee and immigrant kids in Moabit. The project was a recording and sonic, as well as visual interpretation of the workshop with Ukrainian kids at Neuenachbarschaft Moabit in an aftermath of the full-blown war in Ukraine as a result of the agression of the Russian Federation (the work with kids continued throughout 2023)

An experimental piece that employed prepared guitar was presented as a live set at Casa Japuanga in Sao Paulo, Brazil in Feb 2023. The project was accompanied by a series of test-runs that were recorded as part of the music for the podcast work in 2024.

The performance was part of “Hunting-gathering” event at Motto Berlin and was accompanying the exhibition that explored precarious forms of existence of humans within the paradigm of the climate change on a larger scale, and from a perspective of one artist’s life on a smaller scale.

A series of sound experiments was documented as part of preparing for the performances at the Probehall at UDK on June 24, 2023, where Eldar Tagiyev played live set (daxophone) with Kirstine Elisa Kjeldsen (lamellaphone).

The closing of the “Hunting-gathering” show at Motto was accompanied by the tape release from Patrick Shiroishi, Lena Pozdnyakova and Eldar Tagi, and by the performance with HMOT.

A set played and rehearsed for Cashemere radio was an initial run of sonic exploration on the topic of relationship between species, specifically, the relationship between the humans and other animals. The project was developed further and was once again played live on Cashmere in early December. The written thought experiment on the subject matter is submitted for the publication with ISSUES 2023.

The concert at 90mil in August 2023 with Kirstine Elisa Kjeldsen and Lena Pozdnyakova was a playfull improv set that allowed for experimentation and collaboration to unfold in an unexpected manner – using toys, found objects and prepared instruments.

Shash theatrical performance that was accompanied by the live set from Eldar Tagi was a perfect experimental stage for generating not only atmospheric music, but also a set of sound design recordings that are instrumental in a production stage.

The final set in 2023 was played at the secret location – a place for experimental music performances – in Sao Paulo venue on av. Brigadeiro Luís Antônio.

This text serves to celebrate the hidden work of the artists within the There, there group. Their approach to collecting both tangible and intangible materials, along with contacts for the podcast project, reflects a deep commitment to the process-oriented work and interdependence of bits and pieces within a durational and open-ended artistic research.

Published on 12/28/2023