[2021] Jan Kopp in Givors

The protean practice of Jan Kopp mixes media as well as creative experiences, alternating between his individual studio work and participatory group projects. In Givors, the artist reactivated his piece News from an Unbuilt City (1998), shown at the 6th Lyon Biennale before joining the macLYON collection. Including plate sensors that react to visitors’ footsteps, the installation conveys the sounds of an imaginary city made up of snippets of conversations, urban noises and popular songs which inhabit the environment in a way driven by the footfall. Surrounded by cardboard signs, the piece is an immersive space that emphasises its participatory quality. The audience, at once artwork beholders and active creators, enter a soundscape that they help to produce.

Local residents involved in the life of the town were invited to help update the artwork; Kopp’s requests related to things as varied as a training centre and an urban-music label. They were asked to record the reality of their sound environment with Kopp. The resulting audio material was added to the artwork’s database. By sharing their sensory perceptions of the town, the contributors were encouraged to waver between personal experience and the co-creation of a common imaginative realm.

In partnership with macLYON.

Photos 1 - 3 : Official closing of the exhibition, News from an Unbuilt City of Jan Kopp (version 6 2020-2021), November 9, 2021 in Givors © Blandine Soulage
Photo 4 : Recording workshop with the CEFI training centre in Givors, April 2021