- Field Recording
- Reportage
- Atmospheric
Authors: Lotte van der Zwaag, Alexandra Patience, Renee de Hon
Text: This project focuses on Peter Kern's sculpture 'Begegnung'. Listeners' journey begins at a Friedenstraße entrance and concludes at the site, guided by a map. Initially, the sculpture was created for the 1981 'Sculpture and Flowers' exhibition, organised by the Association of Visual Artists (GDR), with the concept of emancipating 'sculpture from architecture'. In 1998, post Germany's reunification, Begegnung was moved from Treptower to Volkspark Friedrichshain to its current secluded setting, alongside Kleiner Teich.
Crafted from sandstone from 1977-1980, Begegnung is an abstract, two-part sculpture, now positioned on two separate concrete plinths of differing heights. Despite the abstraction, Begegnung identifies two figurative human torsos rotating towards each other. The title 'Begegnung', meaning 'encounter', sparked the soundwalk's phenomenological approach as a reunion and reconnection between two narrators who were formerly intimate but have, over time, distanced.
The two bodies of Begegnung serve as narrators, depicting to listeners the tension and connection present in the sculpture's historical context and thematic concepts. The sonic fabric is minimal to maintain a sense of intimacy, consisting mainly of quotidian park sounds, with exception for the 1987 song by East German Band Karussell, 'Als ich fortging', a melancholic ballad about separation and accepting impermanence.
The soundwalk explores the notion of withdrawal and severance, reflected by the initial positioning of the sculpture within a divided city, and later relocation from its original resting place post-reunification and the subsequent modification from one plinth to two distinct plinths. Additionally, separation was an objective of "Sculpture and Flowers', instead from architecture. Conversely, Kern saw the purpose of sculpture as replenishing the 'link between man and nature'. Therefore, the soundwalk delves into society's dynamic with nature, time and history by following the narrators' relationship from estranged to reconnected.
Peter Kern associated with the purpose of 'Sculpture and Flowers' and many anti-capitalist beliefs of the GDR. The disparity between Peter's personal experience and the Association's stringent regulations prompted exploration into the diverse range of artists' realities and 'artistic liberty' within the GDR.
