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sensing the city 2022
curatorial project
PLACCC Festival, Budapest, Hungary, 2022
sensing the city 2022
curatorial project
PLACCC Festival, Budapest, Hungary, 2022
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“The city unfolds itself to us through our senses. We explore our environment, its rhythm, atmosphere, texture, as well as its current condition, the impact of our individual and social practices through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.”
The projects of SENSING THE CITY, a program series which was launched in 2021, have been addressing urgent environmental and ecological issues through small-scale, experimental artistic interventions. Appearing in public spaces, engaging agents of urban life throguh various (multi)sensory experiences, these artistic projects have created an inclusive space for creation and knowledge transfer, for research and dialogue, or simply a platform for experiencing the changing spatial experience.
The term “sensing” has a double meaning, as it refers to both the physical perception of the city (the reaction of the body) and the active sensitization of urban locations with the presence of the body.
In 2022, SENSING THE CITY invited international participants: artsits form Denmark, Italy, the UK and Hungary shared their practice with the wider audience as part of a five-day research residency program at the PLACCC Festival 2022. We explored themes of the Anthropocene, human and non-human beings, ecophilosophical perspectives, questions of energy policy, water management, or the relationship between air quality and vegetation.
Participating artists and public events:
3 Sep 2022, 10:00-13:30
Going Visiting by Nana Francisca SCHOTTLÄNDER (DK)
4 Sep 2022, 11:00-13:00
Smellwalk and thematic talk by Eva BUBLA (HU) and Judit SZEGŐ (Clean Air Action Group)
Moderator: Anett MOGYORÓSY, design- and art theorist, art therapist
5 Sep 2022, 18:00-19.30
Thematic talk by Seth HONNOR (UK) and Kata GYŐRI (Energiaklub)
6 Sep 2022, 18:00-19.30
Picnic by Leonardo DELOGU (IT) at the Mátyás-hill quarry
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GOING VISITING the confluences of the river and the city BY NANA FRANCISCA SCHOTTLÄNDER
Workshop
Using her method Going visiting and the body as a living instrument of investigation, Nana-Francisca Schottländer and the participants of her workshop delved into the island of Népsziget in the Danube, a former industrial site which is now overgrown by forest and partially taken over by the wastewater treatment facility we visited. She was interested in exploring the various interrelations and confluences between the river-body and the human bodies and stories of the city – the wastewater and its treatment before returning the fluids to the river, the thermal water flowing into the Danube and the social aspects of its use, concepts and practices of protecting the riverbank, or whether it needs that kind of protection at all.
website of the artist
Photo courtesy of the artist
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AROMA MAPPING: AIR QUALITY BY EVA BUBLA IN COLLABORATION WITH JUDIT SZEGŐ (CLEAN AIR ACTION GROUP)
Smellwalk
What smells and scents shape the city? What kind of human and non-human agents, environmental or social factors, activities determine it? What stories can scents unfold?
During the smellwalk we explored the surrounding area by using our body and olfactory senses, looking for the unique scent profile and fable of the city. Participants were introduced to somatic practices in order to activate their senses, and to focus olfaction at the air quality of a specific location in Budapest. A collaboration with Judit Szegő, expert of Clean Action Group, grounded the somatic practices by measuring real time air pollution data.
An informal talk following the walk, moderated by design- and art theorist Anett Mogyorósy, shed light on the relationship between air quality and urban green areas, smells and fragrances from scientific and artistic perspectives.
Photo: Attila Balogh
ENERGY – WHO OWNS IT? PUBLIC SHARING BY SETH HONNOR ARTIST, DIRECTOR, FOUNDER OF KALEIDER AND KATA GYŐRI, EXPERT OF ENERGIAKLUB
Public sharing
The works of Seth Honnor address social and environmental issues by questioning the collective perception and practices we take for granted, promoting a dialogue and the finding of a common ground. The thematic discussion focuses on the issue of energy, with the participation of Kata Győri, expert of Energiaklub.
The global community of our times is in crisis. The impact of a climate breakdown is more and more tangible, and – due to environmental, economic reasons and an enduring war – we are experiencing a global energy crisis. But who has the ownership over energy? Can we unhook energy from the economy? The talk revolves around such and similar questions and thought experiments.
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PIC-NIC IN THE PIT BY LEONARDO DELOGU
a pic-nic in the pit
THE PIT is an interruption of the plan’s function.
It breaks continuity, It reveals a subsoil, what lies under the crust, It is a collapse of the surface.
The pit is dangerous, you end up in it.
The pit is the abyss of depression: the depression that touches all the sacrificables bodies,
the discarded bodies are not included in the rule.
Humanity forced to work is a pit,
The landscape put into massive production is a pit
There are an infinity of pits:
A pit in the asphalt,
A pit in the net,
A pit of rare earths, where wasted bodies extract materials to make smart objects and smart cities.
A garbage dump is a pit, a pit is a shelter for animals, an animal trap.
A pit of an uprooted tree. underground cave pit where chthonian creatures live.
A pit is a passage to somewhere else, like Alice in Wonderland.
The anus is a pit,
The mouth is a pit,
Art is a pit where the shadows of time fall down
And out comes the visions of possible futures.
The pit is the unknown,
The darkness,
What still has to be thought.
A picnic is also an interruption, from the working time, for instance or from a walking, is a place for relaxation, encounters and contemplation, sometimes good ideas come up during a picnic.
It is an invitation to a wierd picnic in a pit of the Budapest Landscape to spend time together, share some body practice and try to think, and dream together – and enjoy the lights of the sunset on the rocks of the Mátyás-hill quarry.
Leonardo Delogu does his artistic research on the pit phenomenon; the participants can be part of this process.
Photo: Attila Balogh