date. 2016-2017

city. Weimar

​

Audio guide for Buchenwald memorial

​

Reflecting on ideas of Walter Benjamin about the language of things[1], Вирва[2][3]Klangmal[4] collects remains of the original place (including beech wood, relief of the place and climate features) that visitors of the former concentration camp Buchenwald can find today in the same condition and for this reason in the same way experience. Focused on experiencing of natural and social phenomena, as well as traces of original objects that can be recognized in renovated, the audio guide provides alternative journey through locations of sound memorial that are not appropriated by the history of the place.

[1] Walter Benjamin, 1916, Über Sprache überhaupt und über die Sprache des Menschen, ein Lesebuch, Suhrkampverlag
[2] Вирва (Ukrainian) – pit, hole, ripped out by a stroke or explosion, in the ground, also found in river beds. Also as I mention in one of the recordings, Вирва is the village that is near the village Makalevychi. Makalevychi, from where my father comes, is located on the border between Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. My grandparents looked at the clouds over the villages Вирва and Irsha do define weather forecast in Makalevychi.
[3] и - letter of Ukrainian alphabet that cannot be transliterated in German. In some study books is explained as special sound

[4] Klangmal - neologism, formed from the word Denkmal, meaning monument from sound

​

Listen to ВирваKlangmal  

https://soundcloud.com/user-186108121/sets/v-rva

​