Dodo NKishi & Tunde Alibaba: Percuspection

It was always obvious that Dodo NKishi and Tunde Alibaba would go far. But it’s taken very literally in their project Percuspection, conceived together with Jan St. Werner, because the accomplished drummers and percussionists head out from the HKW grounds on adventurous evening forays with uncertain outcomes. They’ll take visitors to The Sound of Distance or willing passers-by they meet along with them. There are plenty of good reasons to do so.

Dressed in creations by fashion designer Wibke Deertz, the drummers look impressive, but their main goal is to make us see the world with our ears. Their playing activates the properties of the architecture surrounding them, whose resonances are in turn recorded, electronically manipulated and played back to them via portable loudspeakers. The urban space responds, becomes a “band member” and even conductor of NKishi and Alibaba together with their entourage. Using acoustic architectural stimuli, they drift further until the next building façade tells them how and where to go next. Always following their ears.