A soundwalking artist I discovered that resonated with the core themes of my creative project and research paper, Alisa Oleva’s walking art works provided much inner debate.
These 32 women discuss their concepts of home, safety, the city of Istanbul, culture and womanhood. Oleva walked simultaneously with her conversation partner via video call from London, prompting discussion with a series of questions: “If I ask you to walk me home, where would you take me?”, “Does home mean feeling safe?”, “What makes you feel at home?”, “Is it where you live now or a different place?”, “Or is it not even a place?”.
As I listen, I wonder to myself the value of conversation. Many of life’s most significant conversations, sharing of ideas and experiences, take place during walks. Aesthetically, this work goes against almost everything I seek out for stimulation from art. As much as we think when we walk, our speech can dull with exertion
It is important to explore the stories and experiences of diasporic women, their observations are unique in their perspective. Yet, I feel unsure how to comment on it as an artwork beyond that. The intimacy that walking, or soundwalking, with a companion discussing home, an intimate subject, affords very personal discussion full of wisdom, yet the recording quality obfuscates it a great deal. Is fidelity and discernibility important on a recorded soundwalk such as this? I believe it could aid its messaging, perhaps. When an artwork is totally uninterested in the trappings of aesthetics, it’s very hard to feel out, for me. The subjectivity in a work is greatly foregrounded in these conversational soundwalk pieces, requiring truly empathetic listening.