Für die österreichische Fachzeitschrift Medianet berichtet Christine Lauber unter anderem über Jussi Angeslevas und Richard Thes Arbeit Exposure im Rahmen von urban interface berlin.

Hier gehts zum Artikel.

Janet Leyton-Grant writes about Refugia on Mediamatic.

Now that the artist/driver and megaphone/sculpture are back in Canada, I finally have a chance to write a few words about my wonderful experience at Urban Interface.

Over the course of three weeks, I was privileged to work with a terrific team of producers and artists at Urban Interface. Through them, I got an outlet for my work, one that led directly to the streets of Mitte and Wedding. Two or three times a week for three weeks, I rode the backstreets and sidewalks of Mitte and Wedding, learning which streets were good to ride on and which ones would bring the most interested viewers. I talked to hundreds of Berliners on the street, and gave out almost 1000 cards with the piece’s phone number. I played hundred of calls for the ever-tolerant Mitte and Wedding residents, often to their great delight. Berliner Stimmen came to have a few favourite locations for playing speeches: in front of the berliner Mauer museum and along Augustrasse where the road was so narrow that you had to listen to whatever your neighbour had to say during their one minute of anonymous speech. For those Berliners who happened to turn down Augustrasse on an afternoon when I was there, there was the inescapable voice of another Berliner, booming down the street.

In the end Berliner Stimmen became a dialogue between an artist with a mobile sculpture and a willing community. And this is good, as with this work I was interested in using the artwork as a ‘vehicle’ to promote dialogue. The candy-coloured appearance of the work and the very loud sound it makes when a caller’s voice booms through it is actually meant serve the purpose of attracting people into dialogue—about art, community, and, most importantly, about what it is they have to say.

Perhaps a few photos will sum up the on-the-street experience of the work more than words can:

Playing speeches in front of the Reichstag on a lovely Sunday Afternoon. Photo by Daniela Friebel.

Playing speeches at the stadtheilmanagementbureau before the last bike ride of Berliner Stimmen. Photo by Daniel Jolliffe.

A thousand danke to all who helped to make my project on the streets of Berlin a reality… The many anonymous callers, the Stadtentwicklungsbüro, Fat Tire Bike tours, teletype.de, and of course the very kind people of Berlin and of Urban Interface!

Daniel Jolliffe

PS: berliner-stimmen.net and all its speeches, will be available for at least a few years, so check it out.

For those who did not have a chance to attend Mitting there is now a video report of the secret tour available online. It gives an impression of some of the private and public places and situations we ‘discovered’ and ‘unrevealed’ during Mitting. Thanks to Oliver Hangl and his team for enabling this thrilling experience.

All photos copyright by Oliver Hangl.

Am Anfang/Starting the tour

Der Bilder-Rapper/The Picture-Rapper

Im buddhistischen Tempel/At the Buddhist temple

Teilnehmerin Shelley Hirsch performt spontan/Participant Shelley Hirsch performs spontaneously

Wohnraum-Performance am Ende/Living room performance towards the end

Now that urban interface berlin is over, almost all artworks have disappeared from Berlin streets. Yesterday we demounted Exposure, Refugia, Zone – out of vision and go your gait! as well as the urban interface headquaters. We noticed though that most “opinion carriers” are still mounted to the balkonies in Müllerstraße/Chauseestraße. We assume that this artwork will naturally “dissolve” over time.

The sound walk by Jocelyn Robert will be available for much longer. The project website will be kept online for a couple of years, so that people can downlowd the file and walk down Ackerstraße whenever they want.

Heute abend darf The Head endlich wieder raus. Wir gehen erst mal essen, später vielleicht noch zu einem Konzert. Mal sehen, worauf wir Lust haben. Für morgen sind Einkäufe geplant und ein Besuch bei Freunden, Sonntag feiern wir dann noch die Finissage zusammen.

The last weekend for urban interface is here. I’d like to thank the people who made it possible to realise Zone – out of vision:

Thanks Susanne Jaschko for initiating urban interface and backing the making of Zone – out of vision. Big thanks to P Kurzke at Ströher and his jolly electricians as well as the landowner who gave us permission to put up the work. Konzeptwerk (www.konzept-werk.de) I have to thank for technical solutions and construction. Big hugs to Max Rebensburg and Simon Menzel who were more than helpful and thanks for all the extra hours you put in. Jacob Jensen is a star worker. Sarah Quigley is the big back up and support person, kisses to you.

So far the lights have been working, which is amazing, and the piece is standing. Thank you, citizens of Berlin, especially Wedding and Mitte for hosting the work. And at last the biggest thanks to all involuntary and anonymous participants of the artwork. If not for you this piece hadn’t been complete.

Gustav Hellberg

Berlin, Friday, May 4, 2007

Daniel Jolliffe verläßt heute Berlin – die letzte Berliner Stimmen Performance Tour fand am 3. Mai statt. Die aufgezeichneten Nachrichten der Berliner sind aber nach wie vor auf der Berliner Stimmen Website zu hören.

Daniel Jolliffe leaves Berlin today. The last Berliner Stimmen performance tour took place on May 3. Still the recorded messages can be listened to on the Berliner Stimmen website.

Anbei der Radiobeitrag, den die Deutsche Welle am 16. April ausstrahlte. Vorgestellt werden im Beitrag Berliner Stimmen von Daniel Jolliffe, go your gait! von katrinem und Die persönliche Meinung als öffentliche Erscheinung vom Department für öffentliche Erscheinungen.

Mitting fand gestern zum ersten Mal statt und führte ihre Teilnehmer auf eine ungewöhnliche Performance-Tour durch Mitte und Gesundbrunnen. Dabei wechselten sich spontaner Sprechgesang und inszentierte, überraschende Performances in öffentlichen und privaten Räumen (Straßenbahn, Friedhof, Mauerstreifen, Hinterhof und Wohnung) ab. Hier die ersten visuellen Eindrücke.

Fotos: Daniela Friebel