Toposonica
2021
Installation / Research
Valparaiso Chile
Laboratorio Abierto | Paisajes invisibles: Cerros, caos y olas.
Nov. 19, 6:30 p.m., B.A.S.E Tsonami, Valparaiso.
Paisajes invisibles: Cerros, caos y olas
An open lab by the artists: Peter Simon (Germany), Isabel Florencia (Chile) and Amelie Gut (France). As part of the Resonancias program organized by the Goethe-Institut Chile and the French Institute of Chile with the support of the Franco-German Cultural Fund and the Chilean Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, with B.A.S.E Tsonami as a partner.
In Valparaiso, I investigated through observation and listening how the specific sound phenomena of the place behave, with the aim of discovering the rhythm of the city.
The first approach was to look for sound structures with the intention of visually recording them on a map. However, I soon realized that this undertaking was not feasible due to the erratic flow of movement that characterizes the port city.
Thus, by mixing the acoustic, cultural, physical, geographic, and architectural features of the city, I came up with the idea of distinguishing three sound zones: the first, where the sea is strong and dominant, which I called pure chaos; the second, down in the city, downtown, where urban sounds prevail, which I called organized noise; and the third, on the hills, where a general silence is sometimes interrupted by strong noise, which I identified as silent chaos.
Exactly from this structure I developed a sound installation with three loudspeakers that, placed one above the other like stairs, amplified the waves of the sea, the traffic noise in the city during the day and the atmosphere on the hills; a kind of photocopy of the sound of the present in Valparaíso, but in three-dimensional format.
