Humming in Abandoned Places

2020 | 360 Video performance 
With Kathy Alberici, Lorena Izquerdo Aparicio, Marina Cyrino,
Matthias Koole, Elisabetta Lanfredini, Rima Najdi and Raed Yassin

Humming is an almost secretive act, one that we perform for ourselves in personal space, consciously or in passing, often without sharing it with others or projecting its sound to the outside world. Its a device that we use to look inwards, to reflect on memories and feelings we cannot describe or illustrate in words. In essence, humming is nostalgia, innocence and lack of clarity rolled into one medium: the secret sound of uncertainty. 

In this video, a group of people perform dissonant humming sounds inside long abandoned locations while standing in random formations. The places they are in are chosen to represent the relentlessness of the passing of time, but also simultaneously predict the dark image of an apocalyptic future. What we are living through in our current moment can only be depicted through acts of doubt: the disconnection between peoples, the forced inwardness of isolation, and the fear of others are phenomena that betray many of our natural instincts as humans and make us retreat from our sense of togetherness in the world.

This series of performances thus acts as a eulogy for this time, in that they display our deep aloneness in the current moment, but also show our desire to reconnect with each other again, while lacking the proper tools to do so.  

This first performance took place in the ruin of Germany’s first lung hospital, which stands as a symbol for breath, life and the ability to hum.

Cinematography: Karam Ghossein 
Sound: Diane Barbé
Assistant: Raisa Hagiu  
Special Thanks to Monira Al Qadiri 

Making of photos by Raisa Hagiu