GERÐARSAFN
18.00 GUIDED WALK WITH CHRISTINA KUBISCH  - limited number of participants
13 - 16 AUGUST
every day between 11:00 - 17:00 

Electromagnetic Investigations in the City

Since the end of the 1970s Christina Kubisch works with the system of electromagnetic induction, which she developed from the basic technique to an individual artistic tool. In 2003 she started her research on  a new series of  works in public space, which trace the electro-magnetic fields of urban environments in the form of city walks.The first Electrical Walk took place in Cologne in 2004.

Electrical Walks is  a work in progress. It is a public walk with  special, sensitive wireless headphones by which  the acoustic qualities of aboveground and underground electromagnetic fields  become amplified and audible. .

The transmission of sound is made by built-in coils which respond to the electromagnetic waves  in our environment. The palette of these noises, their timbre and volume vary from site to site and from country to country. They have one thing in common: they are ubiquitous, even where one would not expect them. Light systems, wireless comunication systems, radar systems, anti-theft security devices, surveillance cameras, cell phones, computers, streetcar cables, antennae, navigation systemes, automated teller machines, wireless internet, neon advertising, public transportation networks, etc. create electrical fields that are as if hidden under cloaks of invisibility, but of incredible presence.

The sounds are much more musical than one could expect. There are complex layers of high and low frequencies, loops of rhythmic sequences, groups of tiny signals, long drones and many things which change constantly and are hard to describe. Some sounds are sound much alike all over the world. Others are specific for a city or country and cannot be found anywhere else.  

Electrical walks is an an invitation to a special kind of investigation of  city centres (or elsewhere). With the  magnetic headphone and a map of the environs, upon which the possible routes and especially interesting electrical fields are marked, the visitor can set off on his own or in a group. The perception of everyday reality changes when one listens to the electromagnetic fields; what is accustomed appears in a different context. Nothing looks the way it sounds. And nothing sounds the way it looks.

Christina Kubisch was born in Bremen in 1948. She studied painting, music (flute and composition) and electronics in Hamburg, Graz, Zürich and Milano, where she graduated. Performances, concerts and works with video in the seventies, subsequently sound installations, sound sculptures and work with ultraviolet light. Her compositions are mostly electroacoustic, but she has written for ensembles as well. Since 2003 she works again as a perfomer and collaborates with various musicians and dancers.

Numerous grants and awards, such as the Award of the German Industrial Association (BDI) 1998, composition grant of the city of Berlin 2000, Carl Djerassi Honorary Fellowship, USA 2000, artist-in-residence IASPIS, Stockholm 2002, Honorary prize of the German Sound Art Prize 2008, City sound artist Bonn 2013.

Since 1974 solo exhibitions in Europe, USA, Australia, Japan and South America. Numerous participations in international festivals and group exhibitions such as: Pro Musica Nova, Bremen 1976 and 1980, Für Augen und Ohren, Berlin 1980, Biennale of Venice, 1980 and 1982, Gaudeamus Music Festival 1984, documenta 8, Kassel 1987, Ars Electronica, Linz 1987, Steirischer Herbst, Graz 1987, Biennale of Sydney 1990, Donaueschinger Musiktage, 1993 and 1997, Prison Sentences, Philadelphia 1995, Sonambiente, Berlin 1996 and 2006, in medias res, Istanbul 1997, festival d’art sonor, Barcelona 1999, Sonic Boom, London 2000, Visual Sound, Pittsburgh 2001, Singuhr-Hörgalerie, Berlin 2002, activating the medium festival, San Francisco 2003, sounding spaces, Tokyo 2003, Musik und Raum, Lucerne Festival 2004, Resonance - The Electromagnetic Bodies Project, ZKM, Karlsruhe 2005, Her Noise, South London Gallery, 2005, Stockholm New Music 2006, Sound/Bytes_, Oldenburg 2007.
Her music has been released with various labels such as Cramps Records, Edition RZ, ampersand, semishigure, Die Schachtel, Olof Bright, AA Records.

Christina Kubisch has been visiting professor in Maastricht, Paris and Berlin. She is a professor for sound art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Saarbrücken, Germany, since 1994 and a member of the Akademie der Künste Berlin since 1997. 

Website: http://www.christinakubisch.de/