Inside Outside — Bleepsworld

Inside Outside (multi speaker soundpiece)

Inside–Outside is a site-specific multichannel sound installation created for the courtyard of Uferhallen in Berlin. The piece explores the past, present and possible future of the building by bringing the sounds of the inside to the outside. Most of the sounds are synthesised and are based on human and non-human activities that have taken place, are taking place, or could take place within the building. By projecting these sounds into the courtyard, the work invites visitors to reconsider their relationship with the building and to reflect on how its function has changed over time.

The installation consists of five TOA horn loudspeakers mounted around the perimeter of the courtyard, all directed towards its centre. Their focus is Peter Dobroschke's sculptural stage. Rather than placing a physical object on the stage, the sound piece itself becomes the sculptural intervention.

Each loudspeaker plays its own independent soundtrack. Every soundtrack has a different duration and loops continuously, so the relationship between the five channels is constantly changing. The piece is composed so that every possible combination of sounds works together. Most of the time only one or two loudspeakers are active, although there are moments when more speakers overlap and other moments when nothing is heard at all. Because each loop has a different duration, the same combination of sounds is unlikely to occur twice during the month-long presentation.

The sound levels are carefully adjusted to the existing soundscape of the courtyard so that the work blends into its surroundings rather than dominating them. The existing sounds of the courtyard therefore become part of the composition.

Uferhallen was originally built in 1873 as a depot and workshop for Berlin's horse-drawn tram network. It later became a maintenance facility for electric trams and eventually the central workshop for BVG buses. Since 2007, the site has been home to artists' studios, workshops, rehearsal spaces and exhibition venues. Inside–Outside responds to this layered history by connecting the building's industrial past with its present use as a place of artistic production.

Inside–Outside was commissioned as part of Outsource II, a six-month exhibition programme at Uferhallen in 2023, curated by Antje Blumenstein and Christian Henkel. The project was initiated around Peter Dobroschke's sculptural stage, Entgleiste Wand (Basis-Skulptur), which functioned as a platform for a series of monthly site-specific interventions by invited artists. Alongside my sound installation, the programme included works by Felix Kultau, Layla Nabi, Nicola Staeglich and Anke Völk, Tilman Wendland, Elisabeth Rosenthal and Andrea Pichl.

Project Information

Outsource II
Uferhallen, Berlin, 2023
Curated by Antje Blumenstein and Christian Henkel

Peter Dobroschke — Entgleiste Wand (Basis-Skulptur) — 30.03.2023
Felix Kultau — The Future Smiled Bright — 30.03.2023
Ronnie Deelen — Inside–Outside (Multispeaker Soundpiece) — 13.04.2023
Layla Nabi — Umdifferenziert — 11.05.2023
Nicola Staeglich / Anke Völk — reposition! standing! — 27.05.2023
Tilman Wendland — Ohne Titel — 25.05.2023
Elisabeth Rosenthal — Blaues Gold — 08.06.2023
Andrea Pichl — Wessen Morgen ist der Morgen? Wessen Welt ist die Welt? — 22.06.2023