Serge Baghdassarians & Boris Baltschun: "Bodybuildung"

How long is a meter? That was the question to be answered by a French scientific expedition that set out for South America in 1735. There, the scientists intended to measure the distance between the equator and the first parallel. The absolute length of the meter would be established on the basis of their findings. Their party included the mathematician and astronomer Charles-Marie de La Condamine. He chose to return via an uncharted route through Amazonia and spent nearly 10 years wandering through the jungle as a result. Among the discoveries he made along the way was caoutchouc, which would later become the raw material of the Brazilian rubber industry.

In their own way, Berlin-based sound artists Serge Baghdassarians and Boris Baltschun have retraced Condamine’s journey, though instead of the tropical wilderness, they’ve measured the urban jungle of Rio de Janeiro. Instead of compass and quadrant, their tools are microphone and recorder. What remains unchanged is the physical effort of exploring foreign terrain—hence the title, “Bodybuilding.” On foot, and with an assortment of quasi-ritual exercises, Baghdassarians and Baltschun move from their residence in Rio to the triangular plaza Largo do Guimarães. At the end of their aural training session stands the ideal form of a place, an artificial sounding-body that seems strangely familiar in the way it further alienates the alien.