Sonic Traffic Light

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A group of blind and visually impaired people chose the sounds of the audible pedestrian signals in Madero street.
8th to 20th November 2016

Globalized cities have lost their specific sounds: cities have grown into a low and continuous whispering made from traffic, engines and machines gathered everywhere. Yet, new sounds appear in the cities, deliberately and abruptly introduced in public space: subway closing door signals, loudspeakers voice announcements and, particularly, audible pedestrian signals for blind people.

How can citizens make an impact on transforming the sounds that define their environment?

Semáforos sonoros is a project made in collaboration with a group of students from the Escuela National para Ciegos (National School for Blind People) who intervene the sound devices in audible pedestrian signals with sounds chosen and processed by themselves. This was a result of a workshop during which field recording lead to the registration and design of the chosen sounds.

All participants practiced their creative thinking and technical learning abilities within the sound art field, using a variety of microphone and recording techniques that allowed them to synthesize and create a more appropriate and accessible sonic cartography, through which the difficulties and barriers they face while moving around the city are exposed.

Sound can be a way of giving voice to their demands. The audible pedestrian signals sound installation has at least two purposes:

On one hand, to generate a calling up in considering other possibilities of experiencing public space, by making clear the right to the city of the blind community. On the other hand, to give the visually impaired and blind people group the opportunity to express their sound perceptions of the city, by assuming public space as their own.
The exhibition Un Mundo en Común“ shows some process registration and one of the auditory signals loudspeakers is displayed, so the public in the museum has the chance to experience the result of the exercise realized in the pedestrian streets of Centro Histórico.

In parallel, the installation Ciudad(es) Invisible(s) is presented as an extension of the workshop, proposing a sound experience in the darkness.

On November 12th soundwalks guided by the participants in the workshop took place, aiming to induce the public into a blind experience of the city.

On 9th and 10th November, the radio program ENC Radio, presented by some of the workshop participants, was live broadcast during the “Un Mundo en Común” Encounter.
The exhibition Un Mundo En Común is presented in Ex Teresa Arte Actual from 9th to 19th November 2016.

With the participation of: Abigail Maite Zavala Rosas, Alejandro Amado Romualdo, Esau Daniel Montes Cornelio, Ismael Vivero Monroy, Joel Oliva, Maricarmen Grau, Miguel Ángel Nava Jiménez, Monica Crisostomo Moctezuma, Octavio Baez Salgado, Pedro Waldo López, Ruben Álvarez Trejo.
Project completed in 2016
In collaboration with: Cecilia Sanchez Nava, Ricardo Angeles Reyes y Vania Rocha.
Video by Miguel Miguel Ángel García  “Ruta 3000” (Miikegarciac@gmail.com  5529638347)
Thanks to: Carlos F. Aguilar Gonzales, Edith Herrera Romero, Hector Rogel Fragoso, Pati Vázquez Ortega, Adriana Santiago

With the support of: Autoridad del Centro Histórico, INDEPEDI, SEMOVI, Seguridad Pública, Escuela Nacional para Ciegos.

Press
Chilango link / PDF
Excelsior link / PDF
Hispasonic link / PDF
Capital 21 video
Morelos Habla link / PDF
Diario de México link / PDF / Video 
LA Network link / PDF
El Big Data link / PDF
Pulso DF link / PDF
Agencia N22 link / PDF
El Economista “Un Mundo en Común” link / PDF
Noticiero Televisa video / PDF

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Some pictures from the soundwalk 

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