Ptarmigan existed as a project space in Vallila from 2009-2011 and a mobile curatorial/creative platform until 2014. We no longer exist as an organised collective, but this website will continue to serve as an archive of the activities produced as/at Ptarmigan during these years.
Ear Swap is a workshop in dislocating sound and experiencing public environments through the explorative movements of another person. Participants temporarily surrender to each other the ability to guide their own ears and thus lose the power to intervene with the sounds they hear, whilst being given absolute control over what is sent down the ear canals of another.
As well as allowing us to listen to various different public settings through the ears of someone else, the mediation method also singles out some frequencies above others (discriminating in favour of women and children), which serves to further distance the method from our regular system of hearing.
We will provide the technological equivalent of chopping each participant's ears off, mixing them all up and then attaching each set of ears to a new owner before heading down to Balti Jaam to catch the train.
The Ear Swap expedition team will travel by train, trolleybus and foot, through various auditory settings, for approximately one hour before returning to Ptarmigan to reinstall their hereditary ears.
Participants are asked to bring €3 for material costs. Transport is free for those with cards (and €1,60 for those without).
led by Villem Jahu & Hannah Harkes
