Urban Tools

The exhibition, Actions: What You Can Do With the City, which previously was on view at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal in 2008-2009, is now up at the Graham Foundation in Chicago. This exhibition (and accompanying catalog) offers 99 tools for actions that "instigate positive change in contemporary cities around the world." Ranging from urban agriculture to alternative modes of transport and dwelling, the actions reframe the urban terrain for new modes of creative occupation.

Sound Of Soil: Alunda Church Choir plays the soil of northern Uppland

“The vinyl is dead. Good. Now listen to the beautiful noise of the earth. In this performance Alunda Church Choir, conducted by Cantor Jan Hällgren, plays the soil of northern Uppland (in Sweden)."

Introducing: the terrafon, a large version of the horn gramophone, amplifying the sounds in the track it ploughs. What I like in particular about Olle Cornéer und Martin Lübcke's work with the title "Harvest" is the participation of local ensembles "playing" their soils, the analogue approach and the use of soil as a media: putting the soil on the level with vinyl discs to which one can listen to. These performances offer a complete new experience of soils. I have never had the chance to listen to soil before! Check also Diego Stocco's similar but more digitised work on music from Sand or from a Tree.