a video – the installation – the idea – documentation – transcript – photos


we are sitting in a zoom (2021)

a series of multilingual conversations
by and with chunli wang (taiwan), juan pablo gavira bedoya (rain forest, columbia), lisa maria steppacher (thurgau, switzerland), özcan ertek (istanbul, turkey), sani nam (seoul, south korea), anne wellmer (the hague, netherlands).

please enjoy with subtitles and auto-translation via your youtube settings.

the installation

in march 2021 an installation version was shown at State Gallery in Berlin and across the street at UdK's Medienhaus: the video is mapped to window panes and projected from inside the building to be viewed from the street. The sound is available via QR-code.

drawings by juan pablo gaviria bedoya

 




 





the idea

we are sitting a zoom (2021)

the piece is an hommage to communication itself. What is communication like, when everyone involves speaks a different language to begin with? Are conversations between people that each speak a different language any different, compared to those with family and friends where everyone seems to speak the same language. Often enough the difference doesn't seem to be that big.

the piece also is an hommage to one of seminal works of experimental electronic music "I am sitting in a room" (1969) by Alvin Lucier which sonically explores the resonant frequencies of single rooms. Since the pandemic started we have all been spending much of our time in the same room, in front of the same computer. In "we are sitting a zoom" we get to reinvent our respective rooms and share them with each other, and with the world.


documentation

about the installation at State Studio and Medienhaus in Berlin
video filmed and edited by lisa steppacher and juan pablo gavira bedoya


transcript of an excerpt (under construction)

Original

Anne/NL: Het is echt een goeie vraag... is het een risiko om te staan waar je staat?

Sani/KR: 여기는 추운데

Anne/NL: Özcan lijkt ook wel als of hij bijna van een tram omver wordt gereden, straks, toch?

Sani/KR: 네, 맞아요

Anne/NL: Het is toch wel gevaarlijk daar!

Lisa/Schwyzerdütsch: s'isch gfährlich, s'isch mega-gfährlich!

Juan/ES: Pues este siempre ha sido como el tipo de clima en el que he estado, así que…

Chunli/ZH: 很有趣啊!

Juan/ES: …pero, ¿Qué temperatura tienes tú allá en este momento?

Chunli/ZH: 我們在這個ZOOM的會議裡面，把不同的時間跟空間連結在一起，很酷，這是以前我沒有想到的事情。

Sani/KR: 잘 됐으면 좋겠네요.

Anne: ....hmmmm.....

Özcan/TR: Bugün dışarı çıkan var mı hiç? Hiç dışarı çıkan var mı ? Hava baya güzel bu arada, bu konuşmadan sonra ben dışarı çıkmayı bir deneyebilirim. Dışarısı baya karlı aslında.

Juan/ES: Pareciera que te estuvieras despidiendo…

Özcan: hmm

English translation

Anne/EN: This is actually a really good question.... is it risky to be standing where you're standing?

Sani/EN: It is cold here.

Anne/EN: Özcan looks as if he almost is getting hit by a tram, don't you think?

Sani/EN: Yes, it is right.

Anne/EN: It seems to be quite dangerous there!

Lisa/EN: it's dangerous, it's incredibly dangerous!

Juan/EN: Well this has always been like the kind of weather I've been in, so...

Chunli/EN: Very interesting!

Juan/EN: ...but what 's the temperature over there right now?

Chunli/EN: It's cool that we're bringing different time and space together in this ZOOM conference, it's something I hadn't thought of before.

Sani/EN: I hope it goes well.

Anne: ....hmmmm.....

Özcan/EN: Is anyone going out today? Has anyone ever gone out? The weather is pretty good, by the way, after this talk I can try to go out. It is actually very snowy outside.

Juan/EN: You look like you're saying goodbye...

Özcan: hmm

Youtube's auto subtitles

Anne: lim kian did ben mole it's a really good questions search

Sani: how thick to stand

Anne: where you are housed, it seems as if it almost fell from a tram woods data do away witch

Sani: mother still

Anne: dangerous there

Lisa: so still do make-up via vai charge in showers

Juan: . . .

Chunli: . . .

Juan: . . .

Chunli: . . .

Sani: . . .

Anne: . . .

Özcan: . . .

Juan: . . .

Özcan: . . .

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photos

by lisa steppacher and anne wellmer
















sec overview

we are sitting in a zoom was presented March 12–21, 2021 as part of S4NTP @ STATE Studio