{Villa 03 at the Leighton-Barracks, Wurzburg}
The first building used in the series {kA}: keine Ahnung von Schwerkraft (Oblivious to Gravity) is Villa03, a house previously used by the US military at the Leighton Barracks in Wurzburg, Germany. The 135-hectare compound was run by US forces from 1945 to 2008.
Approaching the Villa 03 on foot is a strange feeling. Situated on a vast, symmetrically arranged plot of land, there is a row of houses that have an atmosphere about them similar to that of a barbecue party on the edge of a forest. The wind rustles and whooshes through trees and leaves – sounds that mix with noise from vehicles and the street to form irregular pulses that penetrate the hedges and the noise protection barrier behind the house. The two main sound sources become apparent relatively quickly: the street in the back of the house and the crickets on the other side, where the field is located. Two worlds in themselves foreign to each other create a new, third entity in the ears.
The street becomes an important point of reference for all further considerations. The volumes, frequencies and movements within the building; all sound constellations, which have already been made and which have yet to be created should all be put in relation to this point.
The result is a six-part series (5:49, 4:38, 3:53, 2:30, 4:30, 2:30) of the building sound composition, which can be heard by up to three or four people sitting on the carpet in the corner of the stairwell.
Composition: Gerriet K. Sharma
Documentation: Nico Bergmann
Project Management: Saskia Reither
Premiere: July 28, 2011.
Funded by the A9 (Kulturförderung) Styria and Atelier Klangforschung Wuerzburg.