Bureau for Listening : Fragments for Listening

Wednesday the 24th of January

The vault at Art Hub Copenhagen

Original time: 1 hour and 24 minutes.

Present: Jenny Gräf Sheppard, Brandon Labelle, Randi Lindholm Hansen, Lukas Quist Lund.

[…] an excuse to start a conversation, open a dialogue […] to set it up as a generative situation […] Listening as what sets the conditions […] My mother was a very good listener, my father wasn’t […] people wouldn’t listen when I spoke as if I wasn’t being heard. […] I think about listening as very multisensory […] receiving a touch, those things are also part of sounding and listening at the same time […] when I come to a framwork, I guess it’s hard for me to separate the listening from the sounding […] the situated-ness of listening […] we could say that there is always already a framework in place […] becoming aware […] and so bringing a sensitivity and reflection to that situated-ness and how that impacts our listening […] what is theory […] that allows you to hold what is hot […] allows you to hold it and to give it a frame […] so we can kind of understand it or explore it or dwell upon it […] so maybe this framework can also be on that more abstract level […] too delicate to touch […] a holder of ideas […] the theory then genders the contents […] cultural context of how we come to our listening position […] certain belief systems will create the capacity for listening […] yeah I’m just thinking about linearity and what causes what […] what is hot and difficult […] the framework is not the idea itself, it’s how we are doing it, it’s from somewhere always on the move to somewhere else, always transforming, shifting, adapting […] alive and moving […] generate more or generate back […] the institution as a framework […] inciting movement […] continuity about the institution as a framework […] It sort of holds something, community or content or even an ideology […] And that’s kind of part of it’s project; enduring and allowing for this reference point over time […] to stay attuned to its community […] and also the importance of staying fixed […] fought for and tested and negotiated […] this tension between the fixed-ness and what is challenging that fixity […] great complexity between that which is fixed and that which is moving […] we can’t notice slow change […] listening to one’s own situated-ness […] listening as a speculative act […] featured within large moments […] listening as a condition […] this process as a performativity […] taking it into ourselves and moving it somewhere else […]  shifting orientation […] what I was taught was the pushing back, not the listening […] maybe there was another class […] going back to stasis and movement […] nested frameworks […] how movement and framework is always part of the same thing […] thrive in and feel supported by […] at least not dualistic […] we imagine the Bureau for Listening as a framework […] we imagine some fixation, some comfort […] a suggestion of space, physical framework […] it’s kind of a grasping for something to hold us […] the performative act of naming something is also giving a framework […] bureau for versus bureau of […] a way of framing or orienting […] we say for, but they just hear of […] the bridge between the two concepts […] we really allowed it time to form and to not take anything for granted […] invites so many other ways of inhabiting […] we are kind of longing for it and grasping, but we are also constantly questioning it […] the generative […] in a way speculation […] the gesture of naming […] listening becomes endlessly redefined […] hanging on to the speculative, investigative not-yet-ness […] in process-ness […] somebody has to be there in the beginning in order for there to be a party […]  the time-based-ness of it […] just how the two ears are hearing […] maybe there’s an uncertainty there too […] I love this thinking around doubt […] discovering in the moment what is there […] the dynamics of listening is in itself a changing thing […] a lot of confusion and a lot of certainty and a lot of in-between […] but what you have as a frame is listening […] clarity is always different […] there is always only starting […] we can appreciate how listening keeps us in the middle […] what is always already there […] if we doubt, we also question […] who are we to judge the process […] 

Tuesday the 27th of February

A meeting room at Art Hub Copenhagen

Original time length: 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Present: Carolyn F. Strauss, Amalie Sejersdahl, Randi Lindholm Hansen, Lukas Quist Lund.

[…] receptivity […] the way we move between different disciplinary practices, different scales  across different spaces or geographies […] it’s not only listening […] practicing slowness; listening in the moment very intimately but also being aware of a larger ecology of listening  […] simultaneously […] listening to the unfurling of a tiny leaf […] to the movement of the sun and the sand and the sea on the coast […] a completely unknown […] insisting […] how we understand our symbiotic relations […] landscapes of listening […] zooming  out […] I don’t know if it’s listening to friction […] intertwined and not knowing […] sensing, subtlety, awareness, tuning in, deep listening […] humility, being humble, nuance, judgment and non-judgement, vessel, womb, fertility, or fertile  ground […] silencing our hyperactive egos  […] honesty with the real requires a willingness to listen […] not only hearing what the other  has to say but becoming sensitive to how someone else is […] we listen down to a deeper level that already knows a little more than we do […] a different way of listening is needed for practicing profound contemplation, silencing our hyperactive egos and letting go of control and work […] as a human being who is very much within my human skills, how do I listen to the non-human skills or the non-conform skills or perhaps even the unknown skills? […] when do I become aware of how my cells are responding to the dust of the stars? […] a processional supporting relationship that we can attend to […] a space of potentiality that allows things to happen that normally wouldn’t happen […] listening has this element of friction […] paying attention […] cross lines […] necessarily in the listener or in the recipient […] compassion is a form of judgment […] we live in so short time and things take a lot of time also to pass into our DNA, into our histories, into our traces that we leave behind […] give ourselves patience […] to witness […] not knowing […] the Japanese concept of ma […] this the pregnant void […] insisting on practicing an awareness of all that one doesn’t know in any situation […] who holds the creation of that pregnant moment? […] it’s a very large entity of many different agents making this a prudent moment […] listening is a practice of attention  […] maybe there is a difference between attention and awareness […] are you  paying attention to the unknown? […] energized space […] practices attention because something will  emerge, that there’s always new energy to be unleashed or to be discovered, there’s always this latent potential […] slowness is attention to process […] maybe it should be slowness is awareness of process […] slowness is always in process […] I can never really answer […] how does that alter? How does that challenge? How does that open up? […] what kind of awareness, what kind of process […] is the process itself also changing? […] there’s endless possibilities for what is experienced through the process of performing […] slowness as awareness of process, but I really wanted to change that to slowness as awareness in process […] the awareness itself was also being altered, changing, challenged, that there was like this unsureness of how do we keep doing it […] interactive […] I’m learning and discovering […] if you walk slowly […] then something […] starts […] you create a space where you can get into some kind of slowness […] that’s the big question […] beauty of that question is that, that perhaps all situations in time and space holds the possibility […] it’s not necessarily your choice but it’s also your choice […] it is this constant and more, both this but also more […] a manual for slowness […] discovering something […] awful slowness […] slowness is also a question of trusting the process […] the awareness of the process, or attention to the process […] sharing thoughts and experiences of moving toward a horizon of slowness that we will never reach […] slowness is like a passing through something […] it’s not that there should not be a horizon, but you never reach that horizon […] moments of returning to friction […] this whole testing ground residency is […] an attention to the process without a predetermined end point or end goal […] just imagining it, caring for it, searching around it […] it’s an entity almost that has a presence in the process of listening […] on my heart is always to insist on what is already always there […] this very pregnant world that we’re living in […] different ways of becoming aware and staying with that what is already there and its many different layers and skills […] simple attention towards our awareness of what is already there and how much I don’t know what is already here […] it’s just this little tiny, gentle gesture of pointing towards listening, slowness, and boom […] the world is exploding in complexity and beauty.

Wednesday the 20th of Marts

The vault at Art Hub Copenhagen

Original time length: 55 minutes.

Present: Nana Francisca Schottländer, Barbora Kováčová, Amalie Sejersdahl, Randi Lindholm Hansen, Lukas Quist Lund.

[…] it’s there. It’s not by sound. It’s not by visuals. It’s something in a place which reveals to you immediately all these memories, but you don’t know what it is. You cannot grasp it. […] resonance for me is not necessarily a concept of sound but more of like how I guess the ambience or the beingness of something resonates into my system. […] And I use my own body as the tool […] I’ve always been really passionate about rocks. They are very, very wise, resonant beings. […] Is it communication with objects and actually the object, or is it communication through the object with yourself? […] there is something about the nature of questions that allows one to stay at the very borderline or the edge of one recognized world. […] what tools do we have to stay in that kind of open, receiving space […] So how can we perhaps listen more to the questions of the body as a way to keep that active, challenging and more expanded? […] nowadays we are actually forbidding the body to speak and closing up and being way more aware of social situation and do not listen in the bodies […] But is openness a necessity for the listening body? […] I think the body can always be listening, it’s just listening from different positions, and I think like the clenched body, by not acknowledging the clenched body, then maybe it’s hard to be listening from that position but by acknowledging this is a clenched body what does the world sound like from here then even within that situation there is an openness to listening to that. […] how do we let go of idolized listening ways where stress is not welcomed like why is the discomfort not part of our idea of listening […] like there’s no space for it at all there’s no rest for it and there’s no holding the space with and for the stress it’s just left out in the wild in some way. So my question is really like, how can we both invite ourselves to open up listening to be better at caring for the stress? […] us as the agents, and all the other agents, but also the world that we are being within, are both struggling with the discomfort. […] curiously exploring discomfort is also a really active way of dissolving it, or at least dissolving the immediate notion of it as this is discomfort. […] awkwardness is the new black. […] But I wonder if the discomfort only exists in the unwelcoming nature of a situation because as soon as you let it in or you give in to whatever emotion or mode your body holds then you’re allowed to be comfortable in it and then the discomfort dissolves. […] there’s like a tagline in surrendering to being a body rather than the idea of a body or a narrative for the body, then just surrendering to be that body that you are. […] But I think we still have to recognize how much pain and struggle that also lies in surrendering to being that body like a body is not necessarily a nice place to be like some bodies is probably super nice happy bodies other bodies are super stressed or that carried traumas or they live in a world that doesn’t want them to be alive or whatever so I think in that terms of like surrendering to being a body for many bodies is also perhaps too much it’s equal stuff or it’s comes with struggles that is not for themselves to carry […] a collective problem in a way that our bodies are just in this system so if you take the whole system on your own body it can also be a lot and maybe too much for one body to feel like it has to carry it […] I think that’s an interesting idea of the body as a tool and in a way it might carry some negative connotations […] I found it a little bit comforting also. As a mechanism or something that I can use […] it’s a living, it’s a living, a living instrument and I really like the idea of the body as a finely tuned instrument. […] it just seems that the body is such a powerful learning situation in terms of listening […] sometimes we instrumentalize our listening, we instrumentalize our bodies, we instrumentalize situations, saying it has to be this, it has to provide that, it has to yield this and this.[…] staying with this yeah curiosity or unknowing and validation of that which is rather than what should be […] And it offers so much space for movement, for mistakes […] And listening can do that, like hack the situation, infiltrate the situation, infiltrate all the other factories of instruments that produce all these things that we already know what is. And Disney hacks that. We claim the instrumentalization back. […] the burning question I’m left with now is that of is; my capitalist body during ok […]

Wednesday the 17th of April

The vault at Art Hub Copenhagen

1 hour and 7 minutes.

Present: Louise Vind Nielsen, Elisabeth Holager Lund, Amalie Sejersdahl, Randi Lindholm Hansen, Lukas Quist Lund.

[…] but conversation, we can definitely […] I only heard fragments, but there was a path […] the doubt of the spaces […] and I don’t know why […] space is never given to me […] when you paint black, it means that it does not exist. In such a scenographic sense […] is it because we do not want to be seen? Is it because we disappear? […] in architecture, one must constantly relate to a context. It’s a big part of the art […] conversation space in the bank vault room […] so they could visually see each other. So this campfire can indeed warm our backs. And still have a conversation […] the effect of the campfire in a conversation […] how does this change the space for you, that it is being recorded? And in what way can one perhaps take that into account? Caring about it? […] I think that it is precisely not a negative motherly love […] for we have been sitting and talking all morning, which just as well could have been recorded. Like this conversation […] yes, maybe it should have been recorded, and not this one […] a part of the recording, to disturb and complicate all things […] it should not be said aloud. It does not become a ritual moment, that one should press a button […] and then after the break say… Now we make aware that we are starting an audio recording […] recording the shift […] invisibility gives a freedom […] what happens in such a society, where all people become blind? […] sound as being this ghost. Yes, that goes in and changes the energy in a room. […] will there be a decay with the ghost in the invisible? Or will there be a rise of morality, because one becomes more insecure, more vulnerable? […] and moreover, we are being watched […] what pressure, expectation, possibility space is there then in what one says from here […] what do I say? And what do you say? And has it now been in and edited some of it […] to be held accountable for one’s words or one’s additions or contributions […] it fragments the conversation […] focus is shifted […] is it just raw text without people? Is it like the real people saying the right things? Is there a lot of space, little space? […] I have never ever seen a transcription, where it says, with what feeling something is said, or is there noise in the background, how far is the person sitting from the microphone? […] and I laughed right then. Such things, they are sometimes written into a transcription […] it is also enormously subjective. How you hear a sound is also different. Um. Um. Music is not just music. Um. It could almost also be an exercise for this conversation. […] I think that there are already some notes about some kind of floor center and some skylight […] it does not only become a sensation. It is already spoken of. And we cannot take that back […] we know this room too well […] to listen to the sensory room […] I think it is about such a decoding of some doubt or some wills or a functionality or… but I just need to be able to orient myself, before I can find peace in a room […] and I just often feel that theaters are really good at such… being aware that here comes a person who needs to be inducted. Calibrated to something special. What are these rituals, […] that one triggers people to renegotiate their orientation. That one invites some kind of disorientation in. And creates a new reorientation […] and in what way should we orient ourselves in the spaces? […] love framing […] what does one pay for it? But it is still enormously great to be allowed to in a good way lose one’s orientation […] this performative act of orientation […] when I then have to sit still in my chair for two hours […] one offers one’s presence […] what one does when sitting around that campfire. One holds the circle. One gives one’s attention. To the one telling. A ghost story. And it has nothing to do with looking them in the eyes […] one has that common center […] the campfire is actually a listening room […] suddenly you sit. Completely alone in this large infinite universe. In the dark […] the idea of potential […] there is something that breaks with infinity […] the invisible under the surface. The surface of the sea […] free diving as part of one’s artistic practice […] you have to believe in the water. If you start to panic […] that it becomes part of the philosophy […] the uncontrollable […] there is something really powerful in delimiting a space to a single breath. […] there is much more to say. But it does not need to be said right now. That was a good last note.