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Artist Žygimantas Kudirka (MC Messiah), based in Ežerėlis, Kaunas district, is creating an alternate reality audio guide here. It is part of the program “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” “Modern old man”. The artist creates the audio guide together with the Ežerėlis community.
The information based on people’s stories, but improvised, will invite you to walk around Ežerėlis and see certain places in a completely different way: it will not be clear what is real and what is not.
Ž.Kudirka is creator of Lithuanian rap and hip-hop, sleman author and reader of poetry.
“I was asked to offer Ežerėlis a futuristic vision. I was wondering what format is best for that. And this alternate reality audio guide turned out to be the most appropriate. It is equally relevant to city residents and their guests.” 15 minutes Kudirka said.
– What is an alternative reality audio guide and what will it be like in Ežerėlis?
– First of all, let’s imagine what a guide is. This is a man Leader after the territory In this case, it is like a radio performance, an audio guide. These guides are found in exhibitions or even sometimes in cities, they are used exclusively in the field of tourism.
And here is a guide that reveals an alternate reality fantastically A fictional narrative, but like a guide, a person is guided through the territory. As a person observes real physical objects around them (buildings, images of nature), they acquire a new meaning when listening to an audio narration.
It is an interactive experience when a person walks and listens to the voice prompts: where to turn it on, maybe even become some kind of character in the story they hear. It can be understood as an enriched reality, as a new invisible layer of the city that allows you to experience something new even for those who know these places well.
Photo by Robertas Daškevičius and Audrius Solominas / Žygimantas Kudirka
– What happened to you in Ežerėlis? Maybe like a lake?
– Much more. I go to Ežerėlis periodically, all summer. And I have noticed and photographed small details, and I know the central places down to the smallest detail. I would not like to reveal all the stories, I will say so much that Ežerėlis will shed a new light, the story will explain what is visible on the streets, but it will also explain what is below the surface of Ežerėlis. It will tell you the fantasy story of this city: how it has changed, what it has become and what remains invisible to the naked eye.
– The lake is not a big city, there are not many visited objects, architectural buildings and other typical things of the city. Wasn’t this space too small for creativity for you?
– The size of the lake is very convenient for an audio guide. During the audio tour, all listeners will be able to walk through the central part. If it were larger, a small fragment should be chosen.
Inspiration, hands It was not lacking. Even very revealing. If I drove across the lake by car, it would look very small, you might notice only a couple of objects. A couple of monuments or a church that immediately catches your eye.
But if you walk carefully and slowly, there are an infinite number of interesting little things that you won’t notice when you walk at a different pace. This opens your eyes: if there is so much in this small town, how many interesting details around us do we miss and don’t notice? We are constantly surrounded by a very interesting environment, we just need to open our eyes.
– But when a person comes from another city to a city or town that is not familiar to him, he also realizes something else, perhaps in another way.
– That is also true. But the goal of this project is for local people to see Lake with completely new eyes. An audio guide is not just an instrument for city guests.
We are constantly surrounded by a very interesting environment, we just need to open our eyes.
– Do you remember your first emotion as soon as you arrived?
– She is very good. People who live in bigger cities sometimes think that towns and cities are disappearing, that all roads lead to those few bigger cities. It is abroad And that in the smallest derivatives practically just collapsing huts and hungry goats.
But no, especially after the investment rounds of the European Union. If Vilnius receives support, something is fixed in the city. Maybe a bike path or parking lot. But you won’t see a quick change because it doesn’t happen under the windows. The smallest cities that have received investment for renovation are simply illuminated, with visible changes throughout the city or town.
On the lake we are greeted by new sidewalks, new outdoor trainers, a stadium, and newly built roads. As people say, after changes in the environment, residents themselves manage their territories more. Because if your lawn is not neglected, it will shame the entire community, it will be neglected. Here all the houses are well maintained and, furthermore, everyone here lives in a private house. The city is new, there are not only electric scooters.
– I also had to communicate with local people. Is the community interested in participating in activities?
– Yes, there is a lot of interest, people are interested. If you already have a complete idea of what it will be, it is difficult to say because it is a rare genre, there are not many clues in the world.
Residents will not be alone Experts: I recorded some of their votes, conversations. Excerpts will be used in the audio guide.
– When do you plan to complete this project?
– Delivery is scheduled for early September. It will be an open event with a photo exhibition, a local watch collector, a vintage car collector, and an evening concert.
The guide itself, of course, is not one day, it always will be. Lake visitors who want to use it will only need headphones and a smartphone with an Internet connection. So anyone who passes by or is close to Kaunas will be able to visit Ežerėlis and to experience this guide
– What interests you about alternative reality?
– First of all, it’s not a virtual reality, although virtual reality seems to grab me too. Alternative reality does not deny existing reality, but pays more attention to detail and suggests how, with fantasy, it is possible to interpret the objects that you pass by, that you see in the environment.
This is a more creative approach to the environment. Probably a suitable analogy would be to look at the clouds and try to see the shapes and the animals in them. When people look at the clouds, they say they are dreaming, they relax, they are open and not too domestic.
Such audio guides free everything in me and at the same time help such vision turn on and people When people listen to explanations, people see that environment for themselves. It is the creation of images in the human mind. An open-eyed dream when there is no need to close your eyes, but the environment around you is changing.
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