CAIRO: If you’ve heard that there is nothing to do in Cairo, think again; exhibitions and culture centers are all over the city, offering vast entertainment catering to different tastes. If you are interested in trying one of the more unique ones, go for a Staalplaat Soundsystem treatment.
At the Goethe Institute situated in the heart of downtown, a sort of a clinic has been temporarily assembled in collaboration with the Townhouse Gallery. At the clinic, Geert-Jan Hobijin, founder of the Staalplaat Foundation, an international audio art forum and network, and Carlo Crovato, visual artist, play doctors.
As you walk into the waiting room you are given a patient form to fill out. You enter some basic information including your name, age and habits to be assessed by the doctors/artists who will find the right treatment for you.
Ten treatments are available, each with a unique soundtrack and method. “Aqua Elise, “Digital Sunami and “Carried Away are among the 10 uniquely-named treatments that you may get, depending on what they find most appropriate to your personality.
“The sound therapy will vary in time and treatment: since each patient is different, s/he will be individually treated and instructed. Some therapies will be relaxing, others energizing or even disturbing, reads the clinic’s explanation of the treatment.
I was given the “Hot Muscle treatment; apparently that’s what I needed. Hobijin guided me to one of the beds in the large ward with curtain partitions. After covering my eyes with a night mask and placing big headphones over my ears, he put something on my stomach.
First I heard ringing and then that static sound that comes from a TV set when nothing is on. It alternately got louder and then lowers over the 12 minutes that seemed to pass really fast. The bed vibrated slowly, then more vigorously by the end as heat was being emitted from somewhere unknown.
The feeling is almost liberating as the sound pushes all thoughts out, clearing your mind. The bed feels like those electric massage chairs; quite soothing to the back but nothing too intense.
“You can do one treatment and someone is really scared and someone is extremely happy and relaxed, explains Hobijin, In each person is something different . it’s not about the physical, it’s an experience and what they see in it is for them.
Staalplaat Soundsystem is a Berlin-based music label and has been a platform for the creation of experimental sound, installation and performance art since the early ’80s. This specific installation of sound therapy was created two years ago in Slovenia, when Hobijin was exhibiting in a space that was once a hospital, inspiring his current creation.
Along with Crovato, who has been working with Staalplaat Soundsystem since 2000, many artists have been involved in this project. “It’s an art collaboration project with a very open format, says Hobijin who welcomes artists to add new treatments. The stretcher concept, used in the “Carried Away treatment, is by an American artist and “BMB Con-plex was created by Dutch artists.
Visit the Goethe Institute, 8 Bostan St., Downtown, between 7:00-9:00pm today for your last chance to get a Staalplaat Soundsystem treatment. Check out http://www.staalplaat.org for more information.
