Soundscapes of the diver[city]

OVERVIEW

Mapping the sounds, images, voices, languages and cultures of the cities

I have recorded sounds of the cities since I was a child (back in Bogota, Colombia), using cassette tape recorders, mp3 recorders and now digital recorders. More purposefully, I have used this technique to document my experiences as a researcher investigating the languages and cultures across the globe. This is my ongoing exploratory study (Jupp, 2006) that utilizes walking methodology (Springgay & Truman, 2017) and sound scaping/sound walking (Carlyle, 2007) - Walking Sound Methodologies (WSM) to capture the cultural and linguistic diversity of the cities (Diver[city]).

I immersed myself in walking the main streets and other important places of the cities to capture their cultural and linguistic richness.

This project has two major goals: 1) to theorize how the concepts of languages and cultures intersect and are not static symbols, and 2) to build a sense of awareness of the vibrant cultures and languages of the cities. I hope that this research helps to create a welcoming feeling of belonging in our communities. The documented soundscapes accompanied by photos or videos are useful for educators to create lessons, tasks and assignments within their curricular practices. This may advance ongoing conversations in critical multi/literacies and linguistic landscapes that embrace the complex perspectives of plurilingual/cultural cities.

As an aesthetical multimodal, creative and artistic inquiry project, I understand languages and cultures as synergic and ecological entities that foster collectivity and subjectivity beyond individuality and materiality within geospatial territories for all.

GLOBAL MAP

INSIGHTFUL EXPERIENCES

The Diver[city]: The city as a sentient being

Data recorded evidenced the city as a sentient being, a living organism that has the ability to experience and perceive consciousness, including the capacity to feel, perceive, and respond to stimuli (Pink, 2015). The city in this state is what I have called the Diver[city], a space and place that acknowledges, welcomes and celebrates all who inhabit the city. It creates and recreates an intelligent system that is advanced enough to exhibit behaviours and responses that are similar to those of conscious beings.

The concept of Diver[city] as a sentient being is used as a performative act of the living creatures that are capable of experiencing and perceiving their surroundings from those that do not have this ability, such as plants or inanimate objects. In my field notes, I wrote " The diver[city] is a sentient being where cultures and languages collide. It is alive, and I sense this as a new home for some and a long-dwelling for others, regardless, we all belong and share the endearing space within and its interconnectedness (City centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, November 14, 2022).

Figure 1 represents the sentiment of the Diver[city] as portrayed by AI technology. The Diver[city] is not static but in a constant movement where bodies collide and beings carry their hopes, their dreams, their fears and also their lives packed in their suitcases, their baby strollers or shopping bags. Figure 2 represents the movement of beings while interacting with others within the realms of the city. In a sense, this Diver[city] is like "A system can be described as a set of entities that are related to one another and influence one another, and a state of the system is the set of properties of its components at any particular moment in time." (Giuastello et al., 2009, p.244).

Figure 1:

The Diver[city] as depicted by AI

Figure 2:

The Diver[city] in movement

In the spirit of complexity theory and dynamic complex systems, the information from this website and its contents are evolving and changing but always reliable. If you would like to share and reference this work, this is the suggested academic citation for APA.

Ortega, Y. (2022). Soundscapes of the diver[city]. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from https://www.soundscapesofthecity.uk/

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