Ludwig Berger
A City Searches for a Microphone
Public Intervention - Microphone, radio transmitter, mobile radios, headphones

Somewhere in the city, we hid a microphone. Its signal is broadcast on the radio. Equipped with a portable radio and headphones, participants track the sound source through the streets to find it.

Honorary mention, Prix Ars Electronica 2017


A City Searches For A Microphone is an impressive project that produces immense complexity out of a simple principle. Employing nothing but the everyday sounds collected by a microphone, it draws the participants into a compelling interplay of long-term memory, cartographic interpolation, perceptual processes, physical labor, and public interaction. The participants find themselves actively engaged with the work, echoing Huizinga’s Homo Ludens: forcing us to reflect on the important role games play in our social and cultural sphere. The end result is a surprisingly creative use of the sonic environment. It is nothing less than the re-shaping and re-drawing of the urban map by simply participating: the urban landscape is expanded with the addition of a new layer. The work not only remains a vibrant sound installation, but crosses successfully into everyday practice in the spirit of artistic public intervention.” 
– Jury Statement Ars Electronica, 2017

In Collaboration with Alexander Pospischil

Realized at:
Summaery Weimar, 2013
lab.30 Festival Augsburg, 2013 (with Lea Hohn)
Hörspielsommer Leipzig 2015