For the project Vienna Sidewalk Sequences, temporary repair patches on pavements across Vienna were measured using the length of a stride, transferred onto punch cards, and played back on a barrel organ. The result is a unique melody born out of each individual repair patch. Whenever the width of a patch increases, so does the density of the soundscape, as more notes are being played at the same time.
A QR code has been spray-painted on the ground at each project location. Activating the code on a smartphone brings up a video that shows a walk along the respective patch, in sync with the matching melody played by the barrel organ.
This is a temporary project: the patches will eventually make way for a large-scale restoration. Once they have disappeared, the QR codes, too, will be lost and can no longer be activated. Some of the patches will be removed in the summer of 2021, others will stay in place until the end of the year.
„… We really do need a structure so we can see we are nowhere …“
John Cage, excerpt from ‚Silence‘, Lecture on Nothing, 1961
Vienna Sidewalk Sequences was realised in five locations across Vienna in the period from May 2020 to December 2022.
2020/21 © Katarina Schmidl
Camera & Sound: Katarina Schmidl
Sound Recording: Lois Sauper
Editing: Tatia Skhirtladze
Financed by:
Interview Ö1 / Leporello über Gehsteigsequenzen:
