Lange Adem: A collective sound for a common future
Born in Rostov on Don, Russia, Roman has lived and worked in Amsterdam for over 11 years. Roman was trained as a visual artist and a spatial practitioner at Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Architectural Design and Sandberg Institut, Studio for Immediate Spaces. His practice revolves around addressing social and political precarities and vulnerabilities of the built environment and the different groups negotiating them. His work is multidisciplinary, always reactionary to the context. It varies from social practice, performance, installations and video, reflecting through artistic gestures on institutions and actors of space. Although his practice is mainly positioned within the visual arts, he approaches it from the perspective of a spatial practitioner or what he calls architectural dramaturg.
He explores the soft borders between factual data and storytelling — how do they affect and inform one-another? He is interested in a narrative of the built environment and the public sphere which exists between reality and fiction, history and present. In his work, these stories can be deployed to establish a new meaningful relationship with our environment, to engage in playful resistance against the use and design of the built environment, or to employ our imagination for alternatives.
As his working environment, he prefers residencies and longer-term engagement with the context and its actors. His preferred research methods are countermapping and organising dinners.
The following collective work also informs Romans practice. He is part of a collective Timeis.capital - an audiovisual research platform that explores the experiences and spaces of self-organised initiatives within the Dutch cultural sector. It archives autonomous cultural spaces to capture the cultural history of precarious, ephemeral and collective practices. Within the collective Romans, interest lies in researching precarious and ephemeral spaces, along with 3D scanning and further creation of 3D video work
De Lange Adem is a sound manifestation in Leeuwarden. Every first Monday of the month, when the air alarm is tested, everyone is welcome to raise the alarm together for impending disasters that endanger our common future. Residents and activist groups in L will make themselves heard against the climate crisis, polarisation, and discrimination. For ten minutes, we will make noise together by blowing mist horns to amplify the air alarm and use it as a collective call for solidarity
L is built on three mounds, where Frisians have been retreating from rising waters and other impending disasters for centuries. On the mounds, residents forge coalitions, work together and support each other. I propose to gather on the mounds again to sound the alarm for approaching disasters and celebrate our togetherness
The first action on 3d of June is dedicated to solidarity, aiming to unite various groups and residents to acknowledge and support each other. Future manifestations will focus on KetiKoti, climate justice, queer rights, housing rights, against war violence, and other threats
The work results from a working method developed as an architectural dramaturg during a residency. Activism effectively brings urgent topics into public debate, especially with imaginative concepts and visual layers. Public space plays a significant role in this aim; with enough passersby and media coverage, the subject is brought into people’s minds and the public sphere. Whether reactions are positive or negative, the importance lies in this public visibility
Activism and collective actions create coalitions and communities. However, support from the general public and the media for climate activists is low. Hence, it's crucial to experiment with different strategies. As spatial practitioners and artists, we have the potential to contribute to collective action through imaginative strategies that enhance its visibility and potential to generate awareness and the image of collective futures