(continued from here)
What is the nature of this experience?
At first we thought that we were not altering the space because we were just walking around. But, in fact, we are. By bringing a group of people into the space with a radio that’s blasting noise we (both us and the participants) fill the place with recordings of itself along with different sounds; reflecting the space onto itself. This strange sort of mirror is more accurately described as a remix of the city, as opposed to a mixtape for the city. This is the origin of the mutated title re-mix(tape) for/of the city.
{As we cross the street, look out for automobiles. So up here on the right, at this house we watched a family come home, with this amazing little adorable girl. who as they were approaching the house said to mom, “mommy-I love you” and as they got closer to the door, reminded dad, “daddy- check the mail.” it was this amazing, poignant and almost strange interaction}
For the people who experience these events first hand it is contrived and not imaginative. They are not there by happenstance, their route is intentionally planned and ordered. The radio talks about, and scores music to what is immediately in front of their eyes. In a way its like going to a play, but in addition , the viewer is part of a greater play. The performance of the viewer is scripted but unrehearsed, and as directors we have little to no control over their improvisations. Misreading a line could lead towards a wrong turn. But the participants want to be shuttled through the space. On any day they can choose their own paths through the city. The excitement lies in this idea of the inverse tour- de-familiarizing with the familiar, in contrast to the typical tour which is a familiarization with the foreign. The performance they are viewing is the city; the performance city is viewing is them.
{I was recently talking with my friend about the nature of Providence. There is this constant wall that is put up between strangers on the street. This disassociation is so strange in a city that is at times painfully small. There are pockets where those walls fall, but at most times when wandering the streets you often feel the stares of the people around you callously moving through the space. The weight that bears down and compels the shutting out of others can be simply dissolved by a smile and a warm hello. But at times even this is not enough.
At the end of this colonnade of trees we reach our conclusion. This place is somewhere I like to take my friends, particularly at night. For many, the journey is their first time to the space, most never even imagined it existed. This massive plaza is swallowed in the tininess of downtown and its unconnected streets, left for only the pigeons to enjoy. I found this place the first summer I was in Providence. I was making this place my home. I love to wander the city at night, because the streets are left open for anyone to claim.}
re-mix(tapes) for the city can be heard live on Providence, RI’s WBSR, 88.1 FM. watch for the posters around town to catch radio driven bike derives...
