The recorded sound of a pistol shot in a number of semi-public open spaces in the Zuidas district in Amsterdam, was used in developing Shotgun Architecture by Justin Bennett.
The recordings were used to create a sound composition which explores the resonances of the chose places by repeatedly recycling or feeding back the sounds of the gunshots through the spaces. The resulting piece moves between a dramatic realism to an abstract composition reminiscent of the electronic music of the 1950’s.
Bennetts also uses the recordings as a kind of sonar; the stereo (and therefore two-dimensional) sound data was analysed for spatial and spectral characteristics, plotted against each other resulting in an visual map of the acoustic space.
These maps, drawn by a computer program, resemble the visual spaces themselves only in terms of scale: a larger, open space results in a wider pattern of lines. Because of the complexity of the acoustic reality of an urban space, the link between the physical plan of the space and the corresponding «sonar map» is very tenuous.
But still they tell us something about the space. The experience of listening to an urban soundscape is difficult to describe, in words or in notation. The maps suggest a way to describe the open-ness or closed-ness of spaces, the density of reflections and reverberation, the presence of strong resonances or mechanical drones.
Curated by Julie Lillelien Porter in response to the exhibitions Unending Lightning by Cristina Lucas and Tir’ras (Target) by Zartosht Rahimi at Kunsthall 3,14.