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In Tune, Out of Tune -- Berlin Humming

8-channel sound installation at Schlossplatz in Berlin-Mitte (2009)

“Do you have a song that reminds you of your childhood? Would you hum it for me?”

Now that the Palace of the Republic is gone, we have this green place. What is this strange place? To me, this place is unreal; as if it were stripped of its context. At least, this place is comforting, like any open, green grass would be. Lying in the middle of the grass, suddenly I can imagine hearing people humming. Perfect. Of course, people would hum in this kind of a place. But what would they hum?

So I asked some fifty people who have lived in Berlin, long enough to witness the heated debates about, and the consequent demolition of the Palace of the Republic. And, they hum like this.

The first name of the participants (I could not get the name of some other participants): Gabriel, Heidemarie, Horst, Lena, Isabel, Martin, Penko, Ulrika, Sebastian, Sabine, Gwydion, Sophie, Michael, Folkmar, Gabi, Nick, Fred, Shai, Dave, Maebh, Anders, Rosemarie, Stephanie, Stefan, Daisuke, Doris, Michael, Valerie, Frank, Nora, Christian, Heinz, Andrea, Elke, Katharina, Lee, Ada, Luise, Jutta, Florian, Kyoungjin, Wonjun, Soobin, Joonsik, Yesol, Soyun, Eunkyoung, Chikook, Alexander, Verity…

The installation was commissioned by Tonspur and DAAD and has been covered by local media, including Berliner MorgenpostDAAD magazine and RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) among others.