ARCHIVE
Walk on a Street And Listen (Audio)
Apr 23, 2012
Ahmet Kizilay
Writes Kizilay, "This work was inspired by a radio conversation between Morton Feldman and John Cage, in
which Feldman expresses his frustration with the cacophony of multiple radios playing on the
beach. John Cage responds with his characteristic humor that he made his piece for twelve
radios so that every time he finds himself bombarded by the sound of radios, he was pleased to
think that he was listening to his own composition.
I share a similar frustration with Feldman each day as I walk to my apartment near Istiklal
Avenue, the most crowded street in Istanbul, filled with countless shops, cafes and nightclubs.
Unlike most people who are there for shopping and socializing, I am just interested in getting
to my apartment. Therefore, the endless flow of bodies and sounds that define the usual
experience of the avenue become obstructions in my personal situation. This is a simple project/
thought experiment/state of mind to channel my own frustrations with Istiklal Avenue and turn
external stimuli into a soundtrack over which I have some agency. In this instance, I record the
sounds around me continuously as I walk from one end of the street to the other."