Above the Lines is one of the first cycle Polisfonia's workshop formats, developed in collaboration with the artist and educator Nadia Tamanini. In this article you will find a summarised version of the format and some sound examples.
PURPOSE OF THE LAB
The aim of the workshop is to encourage reflection and dialogue on political themes using paper and sound collage as. The format is designed to be performed in public space and with voluntary, free and random participation of people, but can also be performed in more specific contexts and with more specific groups of people (such as associations, school classes, etc.).
WHY SHOULD THIS WORKSHOP EVEN TAKE PLACE?
Because talking about political issues is often difficult, or boring, or it’s difficult to find people to exchange with, or they are always the same. To create an opportunity for exchange, dialogue and fun. To experiment with an uncommon but very creative meeting practice. Because occupying a space and creating a small community, even if only for a short time, makes us active participants of a place’s life and can give us the opportunity to re-imagine or re-discuss it.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
POLITICS?
By politics we mean all those conscious and unconscious practices and processes through which we shape our coexistence in society. All the practices and relationships that allow people to live together in groups such as tribes, cities or countries are therefore political. It is a broad definition but it allows us to understand that everything we do in a social context is political.
IDEAL LOCATION
Outdoor public space (parks, squares, streets, gardens...)
DURATION
1,5~2 hours
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
~10
AGE
>10 years old (the experience is usually deeper with adults)
TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS
People randomly attracted to the workshop or more specific groups (e.g. inhabitants of a certain place, school class, members of an association, ...)
KNOWLEDGE/ SKILLS NEEDED (participants)
Cut paper and glue it together. Operate a very basic digital interface.
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS (participants)
- Understanding and speaking the local language
- Sonic/musical experiences (e.g. listening to music, playing instruments, singing, experimenting with sound...)
- Reading and writing
- Drawing
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS (moderation)
- All of the above
- Experience with the collage technique and with audio recording softwares
- Attention and empathy towards people
- Open, inclusive and non-discriminatory attitude
- Attentive listening skills
- Good rhetoric and synthesis skills
- Experience in moderating workshops
MATERIALS (checklist)
REQUIRED
- Paper sheets
- News papers, magazines, pictures, comics that can be cut into pieces
- Markers and/or pens
- Scissors
- Paper glue
- A tablet or smartphone
- A multi-track recorder app or a sampler app (like koala sampler)
OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED
- Towels or pillows
- Battery powered speakers
- Food and drinks
RUNNING THE WORKSHOP
Above the Lines is a format that includes 4 main phases following an introduction:
- Visual collage and theme generation
- From visual to sonic collage
- Collective sonic collage
- Dialogue and deepening
PHASE 0 - INTRODUCTION [~10min]
The purpose of the introduction is to make participants feel comfortable, get to know each other a little better and explain the activity the workshop will consist of. The ideal introduction can vary much depending on the context and the type of participants.
Some useful aspects to consider:
- Efforts should be taken to make the setting as accessible, welcoming and comfortable as possible (the Conditions for better (political) participation guideline can be a great help in this)
- Participants should be greeted in a friendly way and efforts should be made to get to know them a little, in this context moderators might try to find out if participants have previous experience in music making
- If the workshop is enacted in a public space with open and spontaneous participation the introduction may begin with just a simple informal chat
- If people do not know each other mutual introduction should be encouraged
- If the workshop takes place in an institutional setting where participants already know each other then some warm-up exercise or icebreaker can be used to lighten up the mood
- Moderators should explain the purpose and structure of the workshop in a summarised and clear way
- In the case of open and spontaneous participation, moderators should take care to welcome participants who join mid-way and briefly introducing what is currently done and how they could join
- If participants decide to leave mid-way moderators should take care to greet and thank them
PHASE 1 - VISUAL COLLAGE AND THEME GENERATION [~15/20min]
The purpose of the first phase is to generate political themes using the visual collage technique. The guiding question at this stage is:
- 'Which political theme is particularly present in your life at the moment?'
A variety of different materials that can be cut are prepared by the moderator(s) among which current newspapers, magazines, comics and pictures are optimal choices. These kind of materials can usually be collected for free in bars and newsstands as soon as they are too old to be sold, but they can also be alternatively found in paper recycling bins or recycling yards, or bought new of course. The type of newspapers and magazines does not matter much but it is highly recommended to provide multiple options that would foster better inspiration. It is also important to consider providing materials in the most spoken local languages so that participants can make use of texts in their language(s) too. Participants are then asked to explore the materials provided, get inspired by them, and create a collage that represents a political theme which is particularly present in their lives at the moment. Materials can be cut using scissors or ripped by hand, and stuck on provided A3 paper using stick glue. People can choose autonomously to work either individually or in groups.
When all the participants are finished producing their collages the group can take a look at each other's work and the phase ends.
PHASE 2 - FROM VISUAL TO SONIC COLLAGE [~5/10min]
In the second phase the visual collages are turned into sonic collages. This is done using a digital device, such as a smartphone, a tablet or a computer, on which a multi-track recording app or a sampler app is installed. If participants own smartphones they may be asked to download an app for such purpose, if not one single device can be used for everybody. There are plenty of different apps available for free, moderator(s) should test out a few and select one that they can proficiently work with. The guiding question at this stage is:
- 'How would your visual collage sound like?'
Participants are asked to record an audio track for each element of the collage and overlay them into a sonic composition, the sonic collage. Ideally each person should do this autonomously on their own devices and the moderator(s) can help to facilitate the process and provide technical support. Once the sonic collage has been created each participant is asked to share their composition with the group and the group should actively listen. The moderator(s) should record the compositions on their device.
At this point each person should have a series of audio track containing small bits of sonic information and the moderators should have all the different compositions made by participants.
PHASE 3 - COLLECTIVE SONIC COLLAGE [~15/20min]
The third phase consists of a collective collage in which participants combine their own sonic bits with those of others creating new compositions. The guiding question is:
- 'Which new meanings can be created by combining your recordings with those of other participants?'
People are first split into small groups of two or three people, so they can experiment the new approach with more ease. After a few minutes the groups are switched so that more trials can be made. To conclude the phase, all participants work together creating one single composition. During the whole process moderator(s) record the emerging compositions and store them for the final dialogue.
PHASE 4 - DIALOGUE AND DEEPENING [>20min]
In the last phase moderator(s) ask participants to openly share their thoughts and feelings about the workshop experience following the guiding question:
- 'Which thoughts and feelings do the sonic collages elicit in you?'
The recorded compositions can be listened at again and used to support the dialogue. Moderator(s) should ask questions to deepen what participants say. Possible aspects to address at this stage include:
- Interesting and/or unexpected combinations of themes
- Similarities and differences among the emerging themes
- Compositions that turned out particularly well
- Controversial aspects within compositions
The final dialogue can go on as long as long as desired and, if willing, participants can try to record new bits and create new sonic collages.
POSSIBLE WORKSHOP VARIATIONS
Focussing on the sonic collage
In its standard version the workshop begins with a visual collage but this stage could be skipped entirely working directly on the sonic collage. In order to work directly on the sonic collage however it would be necessary to provide participants with plenty of sonic material to work with. This can either be done by the moderator(s) prior to the workshop's beginning recording multiple bits of audio taken from films, videos, radio shows, podcasts, songs, public discourses etc, or by participants on the spot with adequate support from the moderator(s). This alternative process requires a great amount of audio samples, an interface that makes it easy to navigate such samples, and more devices with the different participants can work. Enacting the workshop this way is recommended when participants are tech savvy and used to interact with multiple devices at once, but although more cognitively demanding it focusses more on the sonic dimension rather than the visual.
Working with analogue devices
If digital devices are not available or are not an accessible option (e.g. when working with people that find it difficult to interact with contemporary digital technology or people that are blind), analogue devices such as tape recorders could be used instead. The haptic nature of analogue devices makes them more responsive and sometimes more straight forward but they often lack some more advanced features that digital counterparts may have.