I Heard There Was A Concert Here Not Long Ago
Audio installation, 2014
Every city is different. Once I met a friend in Vilnius. We were walking and talking until we found ourselves by the river. I had a pair of rubber boots in my bag which I offered to him. We went down to the bank and took a few steps into the water. He and I headed towards a big concrete drain for rainwater. We stepped into the pipe and walked about ten meters until we entered a larger space where we could stand at full height. There was a hammock. I invited him to lie down. We didn’t talk anymore. We started to observe. The end of the drain formed a circular hole with a view to the river. There was a spring directly under the hammock. The sound of the water mixed with the sound of the river. This created a strange atmosphere because the view didn’t match what we expected to hear. The spring flowed toward the river. Our eyes and ears began to adjust to the space. We started to see concrete walls and hear fragments of conversations from people passing by outside. We sat inside for a while and then continued our walk. Next time I will meet my friend in Riga. We will take a walk. We will walk and think about the location of the festival and the situation surrounding it.
How can hidden activities and places be represented without revealing them? Hiding by revealing, and vice versa, is an everyday occurrence. The paradox is that concealment, like a secret, always needs to be shared in order to remain hidden.