Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art

Rita Maria Slater is interested in human relations – how they are built, including with art. In her sculptures, the artist uses ready elements – a table, typical for many English houses, two cheap but apparently luxurious chairs stuck into the table. A discreet change reveals hidden stories. The artist is also interested in the human voice – its social meaning. What is it? A part of ourselves, something exterior or interior against our conscious ego? Its status is not explicit, unambiguous; our voice is in us but it simultaneously goes beyond our body, it completes our image in the eyes of others. It is easy to describe in a physiological perspective – the vibrations made by human vocal cords. Its social function is however more difficult to define. The voice, incoherent vocalisations, were the primeval way of communication before speech developed. The tone of the voice suggests our emotional state, reveals our opinion: remorse, sorrow, irony, indifference. We cry whenever we feel approaching danger. We sing when we want to express joy and sadness. Our voice is often our biggest enemy; it gives us away, it lets us down, and by breaking it reveals our emotions. In the perspective of feeling it makes us naked, defenceless. The Guerrilla Karaoke Project will have the form of an audio event. A group of people will meet under the bridge to sing some jointly selected songs. The defencelessness of their voices will be confronted with the oppressiveness of the concrete architecture. For a while, the unoccupied space will be inhabited by the human voice, which will make use of the acoustics of the bridge. The voice will reverse the function of the bridge; the space in between will be the place of a mysterious meeting, will witness the creative process, building of relations, and temporary shelter from the eyes of other people. May the space be regained by the volatile, vocal guerrilla act; may the space regain its lost human dimension?

Project “Under the bridge” originally developed as a part of “For The Likes Of Us...” an exchange programme between the Liverpool Biennial Big Table partners and 'corresponding' organisations across Europe, contributing towards the objectives of the Cities on the Edge network.

Under the bridge is within the framework of POLSKA YEAR! in the UK

Under the bridge is supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Republic of Poland

BIP

Municipal Institution of Culture