Welcome to the website of artist, multi-disciplinary technologist, director, hacker, and composer Martin Backes

New Artwork: ’toposonie : : spree’ soundwalk

I cooperated with Georg Klein for the work ’toposonie : : spree’ – a participatory soundwalk along the river Spree in Berlin-Mitte.

About

toposonie :: spree
2013
Permanent sound walk with 32 sound points at the banks of river Spree, Berlin-Mitte
for smartphones with earphones
total duration: 90 min. (GPS-guided)

toposonie :: spree – between tourism and lobbying

Soundwalk along the river Spree by Georg Klein
Sound fields in front of Federal Press Office by Adrian Ganea and myself

toposonie :: spree is a soundwalk,
you can experience independently,
with a smartphone app and headphones,
at any time,
as long as you like,
in summer and winter.

The soundwalk leads you along the river Spree,
between Bode Museum and Federal Press Office,
across Friedrichstrasse through the government district,
connected by six bridge sounds,
with sound fields and invisible voices,
an aural look behind the facade of a world between tourism and lobbying,
to appear as a second reality.

Smartphone App

The project toposonie::spree consists of a sound walk with new technology: a smartphone application (app), with which sounds are played back depending on the position within the urban space and can be listened to with headphones. In contrast to an audio guide with a fixed route and duration, it is possible for the listener to move about freely within the area at his own pace. By means of GPS, sounds are precisely attuned to the location of the listener. Thus, it is also possible to start at any point within the area of the sound course on the banks of the Spree. Please note, in order to experience the soundwalk, you will need a smartphone (GPS tracking), earphones and the free app ’Radio Aporee’ (Android / iOS).

How to start your sound walk:

  1. download radio aporee app (Android / iOS)
  2. start ‘radio aporee app’
  3. options/menu > start walk
  4. select ‘toposonie’
  5. Please note, in order to save loading time and money, you should download the audio files beforehand!
    Just simply go to… options/menu > sync sounds > toposonie … and sync.

Documentation

Listen to the Audio and see the Map at aporee.org

toposonie : : spree (deutsch)
toposonie : : spree (english)

Video

Openings

Opening I – German Version

20th of July, 12:00 noon
Bundespresseamt / Federal Press Office
Dorotheenstraße 84
10117 Berlin, Germany

Opening II – English Version

6th of September, 19:00
Bundespresseamt / Federal Press Office
Dorotheenstraße 84
10117 Berlin, Germany

More info

www.toposonie.info