Documentationhttp://aporee.org/maps/projects/den_haag_onderwaterInteractive online cartography (headphones listening encouraged).

Den Haag OnderwaterPablo Sanz [20020.org / Mediateletipos.net / Interfaculty ArtScience]

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License

Further Work

OTHER INSTALLMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS• Participation in Illuminated Corridor: Port Radio. Some of the recordings were

included in a webcast and a public event celebrated on 30th May at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland, California. http://www.illuminatedcorridor.com/portradio.html

• ʻLiminalʼ. Stereo piece. Included in a compilation of works by some of the attendants to a workshop held at the Institute of Sonology by Justin Bennett. Presented at Lokaal01 (Breda, NL) on 5th June.

• A live set in collaboration with Juan Cantizzani at Studio Loos (The Hague), on 7th June.

• The project was presented as an installation at the Royal Academy of Art of The Hague on 15th June.

• Participation in the concert series Wonderwerp with a quadraphonic piece based in the project, on 26th June at Studio Loos in The Hague.

AboutA place is an order according to which the elements are distributed keeping coexistence relations among them, in a way that it is impossible for two things to occupy simultaneously the same position. Space is what we get when taking into consideration direction vectors, amount of speed and the temporal variable. This space is nothing else than an intersection of mobilities and it works accordingly to the displacements produced within itself, which define its circumstances and time it. - Michel de Certeau, L’Invention du Quotidien, 1980

Our perception of space depends as much on what we hear as on what we see. - Max Neuhaus (1939-2009)

KEYWORDSlistening, acoustic space, immersion, soundscape, sound studies, phonography, field recording, bioacoustics, acousmatic, anti-retinal sound, public space, sound activism, urban exploration, psychogeography, mapping.

DESCRIPTIONDen Haag Onderwater is an interdisciplinary project of urban exploration of The Hague, concentrating in the examination of its acoustic space. In an attempt to listen to this environment from an alternative perspective, it is focused on subaqueous field recordings realized in the waterways of the city.

Sounds from invisible sources and uncertain origin are blended with echoes and resonances from the everyday urban activity and sounds from the species that populate this environment. We discover a subtle soundscape full of detail and minimal occurrences which invites to an attentive listening, unveiling its delicate richness.

OBJECTIVES• Exploration and documentation of the acoustic space of The Hague. • Rendering audible a commonly no accessible sonic dimension of the city.• Reactivation of our aural perception, promotion of auditory culture.• Increase the attention towards our everyday environments.

METHODOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT• Following a preliminary examination of several areas, one of the main

canals of the city, with a length of about 4 km, was chosen for exploration during this first stage of the project. Locations along it were regularly visited between April and June, gathering around ten hours of recordings.

• The project follows a systematic scheme in a way, but above all it is based in a continuous process of discovery, with an intuitive and experimental approach which modulates the situations created and the resulting outcomes.

• Soon after the first on location work started, it was decided to focus the project on hydrophone recordings, due to the interesting and subtlety rich qualities they bring.

• Besides of other derived works like sound pieces and live events, one of the main elements of the project is an online map comprising a selection of geo-tagged field recording excerpts. This is a public map and all the recordings contained within it are available for download under a Creative Commons License.

• In addition, visual documentation has been gathered on location during the process in order to complement the audio materials.

TECHNOLOGY• Hydrophones: 2x Aquarian Audio H2A, 2x Jez-Riley-French´s.• Microphones: Rode NT4, Aevox Classic M MkII stereo.• Recorder: Fostex FR-2LE.• Software: AudioFinder, Audacity, Digital Performer, Ableton Live.• The online map is kindly hosted by the project Aporee.org.• The photo documentation is hosted on Flickr.

Additional Information

• Exploration of more locations of the city, which will be added to the sound map and to the archive of recordings.

• Establishment of contact with the water department of the city, in order to visit restricted areas and gather information about the water system with the aim of identifying and documenting acoustically interesting locations.

• The use of a boat is planned to navigate the canals in the coming months (so far all the recordings were made from shores, bridges and floating structures).

• Realization of more than two-channel recordings, in order to extend the spatial feeling.

• Creation of site-specific installations based in the project and implementation of additional interactivity to the database of recordings.

• Release of sound works based in the collected materials.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pablosanz/sets/72157619319827772Photowalk along the explored area.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSJustin Bennett, Juan Cantizzani, Udo Noll, Interfaculty ArtScience, Institute of Sonology.

SOME REFERENCES AND INSPIRATION- Augoyard, J.F. and Torgue, Henry (Eds.). Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006- Careri, Francesco (Ed.). Walking as an aesthetic practice. Gustavo Gili, 2005- Debord, Guy. Theory of the Derive, 1958- de Certeau, Michel. L'invention du quotidien, 1980- Peters, Steve. Here·Ings: A Sonic Geohistory. La Alameda Press, 2002- Schafer, R. Murray. The Soundscape. The tuning of the world, 1977

- Justin Bennett (http://www.bmbcon.demon.nl/justin/)- Yannick Dauby (http://kalerne.net/)- David Dunn (http://www.davidddunn.com)- Escoitar (http://www.escoitar.org)- Jez Riley French (http://jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com/)- John Grzinich (http://maaheli.ee/main/)- Gordon Hempton (http://www.soundtracker.com/)- Bernie Krause (http://www.wildsanctuary.com/)- Chris Watson (http://www.chriswatson.net/)

a subaqueous sound exploration of The Hague

CONTACTPablo Sanz Almoguera (http://www.20020.org)pablo[at]20020[dot]orgt: +31 643 048 978 (NL) / +34 644 398 655 (ES)