Tenna Beck /Kopenhagen

2 earrings with dots
1 package of paper
1 striped hairband
1 hamburger
1 packet of magic markers + crayons which also can be used as watercolours
6 small plastic whistles
1 tape measure
3 pfannkuchen

In April 2007 I visited Gropiusstadt. It was the first time I returned to Berlin after having lived there for almost one year. This time I only brought a small bag for my one week stay. I also brought my boyfriend Lui, student of fine arts, and Maria who is my roommate from Berlin studying architecture.
On the first day we went to see Gropiusstadt from the outside. I filmed Maria running down the long path to see where it was leading. It ended suddenly in the middle of the green field. On our way back we met a couple of tenants from Gropiusstadt using the path for everyday activities such as walking the dog or running. Lui built a sound machine from a bicycle pump with a whistle connected to it. It made us interested in how sound can effect your perception of a place. We thought of testing the idea at the table for table tennis visible from the balcony in the apartment. I got more and more interested in reading the books I found in the apartment on the history of Gropiusstadt. We wondered how to use historical facts or incidents to interact with the urban space.

Text zu den Photos a, b, c and d:

a) I saw a table with flowers when I walked down the hallway, and wondered who had placed them there. The next time I passed the flowers, I noticed that they looked thirsty and I got some water.

b) In my staircase there are 77 apartments. The frontdoor creaks every time I open it. I found a bottle of bicycle oil labeled “PROPHETE” in a box under the sink. On the back of the bottle the following was written: “Markenqualität seit 1908. Zweirad-Schmier- und Haftöl. Anwendungsbereiche: Ketten, Sägeketten, Bodenzüge, Sport- und Spielgeräte, Scharniere usw.” I oiled the hinges.

c) There is a whistling sound in the rubbish chute. Today when I opened the chute to throw a waste bag I felt an urge to yell “rubbish” down the chute, but I got away from it.

d) Today I passed a house with a lot of stuff stored inside. I marked the house with a small cross because I imagined that it would be a good place to keep something I needed to remember.