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‘Re-engagement’ at Roehampton Library Green / Wandsworth Fringe Festival 2017
What would it be like if we had the opportunity to re-present ourselves to our fellow citizens in public? What would we choose to say and what to omit in a-one-minute presentation? What would be the effect of these recorded echoes of peoples’ voices within an urban environment? Who will take the first step to re-engagement?
Sixteen days, tables, recorders, laptops connecting the material, the tablets, the speakers, the public spaces _ outdoor and indoor _ and the People.
Interesting times.
Today most of us live in large cities inside a frame of anonymity. An anonymity which in the past was seen as an advantage of city life but now, day by day, has become a growing scourge that isolates peoples’ lives and leads them to alienation, to a disconnected existence.
The media are dominated by various figureheads who come from a variety of political landscapes and claim to speak for the social majority. These figureheads’ environments are in reality so removed from the normal, everyday aspects of life that it is impossible for them to know what a real person thinks, or even how she/he speaks.
Society at this moment seems to be deeply divided.
So, in these interesting times, within a borough of a large city, we wish to pose a question to ourselves about ourselves: “Who are you?” and thus begin a re-engagement with the community.
Who are you?
The question is: Who are you?
Participants will have exactly 1 minute to present themselves audibly, in the way they want, using whatever they consider as important, useful or representative for this re-presentation of themselves. They will be asked one question ‘Who Are You?’ and then given the allotted time to deliver a personal perspective of themselves while they are recorded by microphone. They will be re-presenting themselves to the community not as part of an anonymous public anymore but as an individual, with his/her ‘own identity’. If they wish then they can give their names. This of course, will be optional and if someone wishes to remain anonymous then they can. We want to give participants an opportunity to express their identity beyond what might be on a passport or birth certificate.
In an outdoor sound installation a playback of the responses will loop, outputting people’s presentations of themselves over a course of time, making their voices part of the urban environment of Wandsworth.
At the same time during the course of the festival, another installation will be located inside Roehampton Library where visitors will have the chance to come in contact with the recorded material and re- engage themselves in their own time and at their own pace with other peoples’ identities.
This material will belong to Wandsworth and Roehampton Library as a live-recorded archive reminding future generations of the existence and importance of individuality and as a record of this moment in time.
The voices of Wandsworth will have their place in posterity as part of the library, as talking books.
‘Re-engagement’
‘Re-engagement’ is an interactive human sound installation, a collaborative project between Urbn Theatr and the general public which integrates current social and artistic themes in order to explore how and in what way people wish to present themselves in this specific moment. By providing a platform for the participants to represent themselves we intend to reduce the degrees of proximity between our fellow citizens and furthermore to create a new framework for people to meet, listen and share. To give an opportunity for a re-engagement.
In collaboration with:
‘Re-engagement’ is part of Wandsworth Fringe Festival 2017.
Wandsworth council.
Working with Roehampton Library and GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited).
An active network of local partners and volunteers is being built. A completed report of all the people involved on the project will soon be announced as the process is underway.
INFORMATION
Dates: Recording at Roehampton Library Green: 6&7, 13&14, 20&21 May 2017, 10am to 6pm
Tickets: Free
Location: Roehampton Library Green, Danebury Avenue, SW15 4HD
Info: info@urbn-theatr.com
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