Chelsea Leventhal

On a playground adjacent to the Neues Kreuzberger Zentrum, a block of apartments, shops, and restaurants near Berlin’s hectic Kottbusser Tor station, small speakers were installed in a jungle gym structure that visitors could climb on. Sitting or lying several meters above the ground, they were positioned to listen to the five channel sound composition, which featured sounds of animals and birds in their natural habitats cross-synthesized with recordings of sounds projected by humans in the city, such as cell phone ring tones, boomboxes, and voices. The constant nearby din of Kottbusser Tor, Berlin’s urban jungle, forms the background to this light and frenetic mixture of sounds, an integral part of the piece as well.