Headphones on, and the everyday commute, walk, staring outside a bus window turns into a parallel world, hidden in broad sight.
I cannot but shrivel in despair each time I hear of the way headphones and personal stereos 'destroy communities' and interpersonal warmth between strangers. Frankly, my dear, I couldn't give a damn. I prefer the thousands of impersonal souls I pass by everyday, actors in my tiny personal novel, play and dream especially in that moment that my music and their pace synchronise.
And then comes Audio Obscura. The headset, your Alice's Mirror. It didn't take longer than the first seconds of sounds and voices and music to make me jump through.
Surprisingly, it was not the sounds I noticed the most, but the building. St Pancras in its Sunday best. The people so beautiful and intriguing. The building cranes. Drunk. I walk, I stop, conscious still that I might be perceived as a weirdo or a thief, but not too much. 10 minutes more, still watching the Arrivals board. Beautiful. Someone right. Someone left. Real. Not real. Alice. 20 minutes pass so suddenly. I have to leave before the end. I am keeping the headphones on to the bitter end.
A couple were just getting theirs from the little secret booth of magic. They start walking together. Oh dears, let go, here you can never have the same experience yourself, or with any other. I wanted to hug the two Artangels while handing the headphones back. I left quickly as if to keep my pounding heart untainted by reality. On the way out, I saw a girl walking around wearing the same headphones. I thought of playing on her a trick...
more info:
http://www.artangel.org.uk/audioobscura
http://www.thethoughtfox.co.uk/?p=5054
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment