Componerse con la ciudad: los paseos sonoros de Hildergard Westerkamp, Christina Kubisch y Janet Cardiff

Abstract

The soundwalk is an artistic practice that combines walking with listening to the sound environment. In this article, we present the work of three sound artists who have become unavoidable references in the field of sound walks: Hildergard Westerkamp, ​​Christina Kubisch and Janet Cardiff. We will analyse with them how the soundwalks can affect and alter our way of perceiving and inhabiting our cities. It was precisely Westerkamp who gave name to this practice of going for a walk to listen. For her, the soundwalk is an effective way to get out of our sound bubbles and become aware of our participation and responsibility in the urban sound environments that we inhabit. Hence, she weighs it not only an artistic practice, but also an ecological one. On her part, Kubisch invites us with her Electric Walks to immerse ourselves in the soundscape of the electromagnetic fields generated by the multitude of electrical devices that surround us. Thus, making the nearby imperceptible perceptible, our streets are recontextualised and our senses become more attentive to how much goes unnoticed. Finally, Cardiff weaves audio walks in which the voice, and with it the word, take on special prominence to lead us through emotional and temporal labyrinths through streets always shared and full of sounds, memories, wishes, fears, history and stories. The work of these three artists shows how the sound plays a key role in our lives and our cities and if we take the time to walk and listen to the streets we are not only occupying them but also composing ourselves with them.