Sounds of Rijeka
Two crane bases stand as gates at the beginning of the pier, witness to its past. Cranes of many kinds stand throughout the port, but these had their “heads” removed and the pier is not any longer part of the active port. These symbolic gates are each equipped with four speakers and motion detectors. Like the bells ringing throughout the city, they sound the voices and emblematic sounds recorded by Rijekan youth and the artist, as people walk under.
The challenges I faced were multifaceted: how to “occupy” the sonic space temporarily as people of all walks of life passed without any notion of what was about to happen, how to establish a balance between my desire for the sounds to overlay themselves like thin-veiled transparencies over the ambient sounds, yet still be noticed, and the selection of sounds and contents of the messages recorded over several weeks.
LAETITIA SONAMI - RIJEKA, CROATIA
“SOUND GATES”
Voices of Rijeka
This clip shows one of the two cranes being activated by people passing by - (film Pia de Compiegne)