„GeOrgel“ is an installation with ten interactive sound drawers. The drawer serves to control the volume of the sound coming from it. The combination of different furnitures becomes a polyphonic instrument and a container for oral history. The installation refers as well to living room culture of the 1980’s as to the surrounding. People from the neighborhood were interviewed and asked if they can contribute a song to the installation. Visitors are allowed to open every case and can also contribute to the drawer’s contents. Furthermore, musicians and artists are invited to perform there. In 2023 „UpcycleTheStreet!“, a series of public interventions takes place in front of the GeOrgel.
The word „GeOrgel“ means something like someone playing an organ badly – but in slang, it refers also to the (failing!) starting of the car engine. The style of the furniture is „Oak rustic“ but it’s also kind of an unofficial follower of the „Gelsenkirchen baroque“. As such, it refers to the city as the location where it’s built and presented. Allthough situated in the west, it’s nowadays Germany’s poorest city according to people’s income situation.
Visit the GeOrgel-project-website (blog; in german only)