THE PASSENGER
Recordings from Tangiers 2011
AUDIO PREVIEW // PURCHASE ALBUM
Live performance at Florence Gould Hall in New York City. Photo by Darren Keith.
Live performance at Fes Festival of Sacred Music in Fes, Morocco. Photo by Darren Keith.
SYNOPSIS
The Passenger is a soundscape project set in the strait of Gibraltar, between Tarifa and Tangier, built on the concept of a very narrow waterway that divides, and at the same time bonds together, two worlds. This narrow strip of water of only 14 km separates Spain and Morocco, and is considered a crossing point between the North (Europe) and the South (Africa); the Old World (Mediterranean Basin) and the New World (Atlantic Ocean). It is a major intersection of civilizations and contemporary human expectations.
Located at the border of the strait of Gibraltar, Tangier is the entrance to the African continent and symbolizes the encounter of the North and the South. As a transit city and a witness to thousands of men and boats passing by, it is a unique kaleidoscope of sounds, languages, cultures, trades and stories, some of which, of clandestine origin, take into account migration as major life change. In the same vein as Soundwalk's Ulysses' Syndrome, in which the collective set out to retrace the steps of Ulysses' voyage in the Mediterranean Sea, The Passenger means to create a contemporary sonic cartography of the strait of Gibraltar this time by following the many paths of its 'passengers'.
By collecting an infinite variety of sound fragments, the process of “sound fishing” becomes a map of anthropological thoroughfares of peoples whose life is tied and dependent on the crossing of the strait. The result is a sonic fresco, composed of fragments of sounds, the voices of the two worlds joined.
During the month of April 2011, based in Tangier in a house especially equipped with long-range antennas and scanners, Soundwalk recorded all Hertzian frequencies along the shores of the strait of Gibraltar, over a range of 40 miles; as well as specific field recording in the city of Tangier - collecting an infinite variety of sound fragments.
INSTALLATION/PERFORMANCE
Excerpt from live performance on May 9th, 2011 at FIAF NYC, film by Jim Helton.