Abstract

Informations on the specific project:
The approach, concept, project selection and individual compositions were developed in collaboration with Phillip Schulze and master students of the university as part of the ‘Acoustic Art’ seminar (Sound and Reality) led by Phillip Schulze (Lecturer, Robert Schumann University of Music, Düsseldorf, Institute for Music and Media).

Title: Gleismusik (3-multi channel channel sound installations)
Contributing Master Students/Artists: Emil Theodor Felhofer (ModelRaum „Theatre“), Dan Moufang (ModellRaum „Laboratory“), Leili Zamanahmadi (ModellRaum „Auditorium“)
Duration: 26.01.2025. - 09.02.2025 (24/7)
Venue: 3ModelRooms (Theater), Underground-Station, Heinrich-Heine-Allee, Düsseldorf, Germany
Art Direction: Ralf Broeg & Phillip Schulze

‚The End is never‘ by Emil Theodor Felhofer:
The escalator is running. The escalator keeps running. The first step is also the last, and the last step is also the first. An eternal cycle with no clearly discernible beginning or end. Sentences that also form a loop within themselves. Sentences whose last word is their first.
Simple melodies that seem to repeat endlessly without ever becoming tiresome.

‘The End is never’ is an installation for an escalator and three loudspeakers.

‚Untitled‘ by Dan Moufang:
The piece ‘Untitled’ was composed specifically for a performance at the ‘Labor’ sound space on Heinrich-Heine-Allee. It is a 30-minute piece that explores sound exclusively. Using specialised software, the seven loudspeakers are activated either in sequence or according to specific patterns. Gentle soundscapes contrast with delicate sounds, creating an interesting yet subtle soundscape.

‚Fragen, پرسش‌ها‘ by Leili Zamanahmadi:
Composition based on a poem by Heinrich Heine.
Heinrich Heine is an important symbol of the city of Düsseldorf. In his works, he poses questions about our existence that remain relevant today:
‘Tell me, what does it mean to be human? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Who dwells up there amongst the golden stars?
The power of these words inspired the composer Leili Zamanahmadi to create the work “Questions, پرسش‌ها”. It combines a recitation of Heine’s poem with the accompanying piano composition and a translation into Farsi, the mother tongue of the composer, who hails from Iran. The Heinrich-Heine-Allee tram stop offers something special. It is fitted with 48 loudspeakers that can be controlled individually. This enables auditory experiences that go beyond the usual listening experiences of mono and stereo mixes.

Composition and piano: Leili Zamanahmadi
Sound production: David Hanraths
Persian translation: Ali Abdollahi
German narration: Emil Felhofer

General information on the third phase of 3ModelRooms:
3ModelSpaces (Auditorium/Laboratory/Theatre)
Sound Corridors at Heinrich-Heine-Allee Underground Station
Phase 3
The third and current phase addresses the core research topic of the 3ModellRäume:
- How can the artistic use of sound enhance the quality of experience in public spaces?
- How can a synthesis of technologies, disciplines, formats and categories open up new avenues for innovation, creativity, cooperation, interactivity and partnerships in public spaces?
- How can sound, understood as a sculptural material that structures space and time, make static architectural spaces permeable to new meanings through its dynamic, fluid and ephemeral nature?
- How can collaborative and transdisciplinary artistic working methods address the diversity of the audience in this specific, functional, non-art context whilst simultaneously ensuring artistic insight and innovation?

In the projects of the third phase, various forms of collaboration have been and continue to be applied and tested:
- Art-sound projects in which, as a visual artist, I co-develop sound artworks in collaboration with artists or creatives from other disciplines.
- Projects in which, as an art director, I conceive themes or series and then invite artists to develop sound art contributions.
- Projects in which, as a curator, I invite artists to develop works for the spaces without providing detailed specifications, and am more interested in provoking as independent an artistic response as possible to the situation and the programme to date.
- Projects that were brought to me due to a particular interest in the unique qualities of the 3ModellRäume and are then, in a sense, realised in co-curation.
- Projects that take up cultural events in the city (festivals, exhibitions, anniversaries, etc.) and reflect on them in a synergistic way.
- Projects realised by invited guest curators.
- Various hybrid forms combining the above methodologies