The Buskers' Club - Deriving from scratch

Deri vi ng f rom scratch

The Buskers’ Club Juliette Sung

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(R e)-ac t iv ist Arc hit ec t ure 2 015-16

Tutor: Simon Baker The studio is focused on reinvigorating places through the stimulation of local cultures and distinction derived through temporary propositions and event leading to long term legacy proposals and lasting change cementing local diversity and di fference.

THe studio studies cities of culture, visiting European cities of Culture to understand their strategies of cultural relevance, reinvigoration and participation. We compare these cities with capitals where cultural diversity, vibrancy and independence thrive.

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Hul l , Uni t ed Ki ngd om The town of Hull was founded late in the 12th century. The monks of Meaux Abbey needed a port where the wool from their estates could be exported. They chose a place at the junction of the rivers Hull and Humber to build a quay. Hull has been a market town, military support port, trading hub, fishing and whaling centre, and industrial metropolis.

After suffering heavy damage in the Second World War, Hull weathered a period of post- industrial decline, gaining unfavourable results on measures of social deprivation, education and policing. In the early 21st- century spending boom before the late 2000s recession the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending.

Tourist attractions in Hull include the historic Old Town and Museum Quarter, Hull Marina and The Deep, a city landmark. Recently in 2013, Hull is being announced to be the 2017 UK City of Culture.

Si t e: Hul l Ri ver corri d or and the Ea s t b ank

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City centre

Old town

Hull River corridor

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0 1 Disorient yourself “In a derive one or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. ... From the derive point of view cities have a psychological relief, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes which strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones.”

- Debord, Guy “Theory of the Derive”, in Andreotti and Costa, Theory of the Derive, 1996, p.22.

First published in Les Levres Nues, no.8, 1956

By identifying the moments, incidents, events or observations of informal practice in Hull, I recorded my instances towards the social practice and cultural behavior from an independent perspective.

Sound, is the first thing that drew me in when I first arrived Hull. From people talking, laughing, busking and walking, to seagull singing by the Hull river corridor. I am interested in how soundscape connects people within the urban infrastructures, how we make noise to the surrounding and how does the noise influence the inhabitants.

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0 2 Framing t he id ent it y “We live in a photographic world of increasing certainty - Sometimes the predictability of digital photography feels a little too safe for my liking.�

- Steve Gosling Working collectively with the studio, we built two kinds of camera to capture and record both people and place in a creative way where the capture of information is an art form in itself. The process of making the image is creative and suspends our normal ways of doing things and the expected imagery that result.

Afghan KAMRA-E-FAOREE The Afghan Box Camera is a simple box- shaped wooden camera traditionally used by photographers working from a street pitch, who produce, instant identity portraits. The process of involvement and engagement with the public gave us a quick glimpse on the identity of Hull.

Pin Hole Camera A pinhole camera is a small, light-tight can or box with a black interior and a tiny hole in the center of one end.

We put them along the Hull river corridor for a day or two, recording the longer- term moment.

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Outputs of the Afghan camera

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Output of the pinhole cameras

0 3 Const ruc t a sit uat ion “It is a moment in life, concretely and deliberately constructed through the collective organization of a unified situation as a priviledged or exceptional moment in the sense of aestheticism. The situation is neither the becoming-art of life nor the becoming-life of art.�

- Agamben Busking, is the most down- to- earth and instant act within the public realm. It puts a welcoming face on a city, gets people out of their cars strolling, congregating with strangers.

I brought my cello to Hull and busked in different corners in Hull, from the most crowded shopping street to the deadly quiet space at the bridge underway. As a cellist, I think the most challenging part throughout my intervention is carrying everything to the spot on my own, with the terrible cold weather behind.

Fisheye lens camera I think the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe. We never just look at single thing, we always see the relation between surroundings with ourselves. Everytime we look at a photograph, we are aware, however slightly of the photographer selecting the sight from an infinity of other possible sights. Therefore I offered them the camera for capturing their preference while I was playing the cello at the background, to see how much attention can a busker give in the public realm.

You may refer to the video on the dvd of the buskers and myself busking in Hull.

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Outputs of the fisheye lens camera

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0 4 Proposit ion Moving forward with the observations and experiences in both site visit and constructed situation previously, the Hull river corridor is comparatively quieter than the city centre, where all those shops are located. With the river side boardwalk and the old town next to it, creating space at the bridge underway can give good acoustic backdrop for buskers, as well as a temporary space for them to socialize.

Soundscape study of the bridge underway

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0 5 S c ale up

People do not come out to see buskers, buskers come out to where people gather. Busking thrives in areas where people are strolling, exploring unhurried on foot. The areas where it works best are the spots of crowds interest, such as the main shopping street or the Hull landmark, the Deep.

I want to reactivate the river bank area by putting up some temporary “music boxes”, where buskers can practice under the rain, creating music with the scenary of river in front of them, or can be a pop up market where people can sell stuffs on it. The “music box” is designed to a standard size that the busker inside can reach their utensils easily, as well as keeping the close distance with the public.

Inspired by the game machines in carnival, the changes from the public can be collected collectively in the money box and whenever there is an input to the box, it will activate the movement of the track. “Music boxes” will then run along the river bank corridor, blending in the sound of joy and togetherness.

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Varied spatial arrangement of the “music box�

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