Because I am pretty much instigated by the overlap of senses...
So, I’m back. And I’m supposed to be noisy. I just cannot. Everything, from where I left some years ago, seems new to me. I’m mesmerized. With the ability of understanding the others without a big effort, with the astonishment of realizing how much I’ve changed (I thought I barely haven’t).
I missed the loud conversation around me. I miss some silence, here and there. I was not there. I am not here. I am between, somewhere.
An end. Strange.
Ana Estrela – Noise Project 9thChallenge
I´m back to Brazil. Traffic sound, in a country which complains not only for a better public transportation system, but also for better conditions for everyone. In the midst of it, the FIFA Confederations Cup start. What will happen next week?
The phone rings. It´s someone from overseas, willing to talk to me.
The keyboard works intensively. It´s me, working, exchanging news, getting in touch.
On the street, I ask for a coffee – in German, in English, in Spanish, in Portuguese. Most of the times it´s an expresso – I´d rather have a filtered one…
I talk to my family, mixing languages, creating new words.
The plane lands – changing hemisphere and sounds.
All (re)starts.
The current Noise Project challenge is actually (almost) the same from the first week. As I mentioned, the tram noise, just beside my window, tells me which time it is, without the need to look at a clock. Whenever I´m at home, my routine is driven by its sound.
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- Hello?!
- Estuve ayer con…
- Endlich Frühling!
- … orada, peynir almak ve kesmek …
- Nous allons à la station…
- Ja, ick hab ihn kennegelernt!
- Спасибо.
- … the tram gets on time. It´s so predictable!
- Deutsche Bahn hat immer Probleme. Scheiße!
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At the Mauerpark
When this new challenge was launched, I was not in Berlin. But doesn´t matter where, snows loves Germany! All I could think for an empty space was in white… And, while taking pictures, I thought of image noise. I thought also on the beauty it sometimes presents. And I thought of snow in the midst of it.
The winter is back in Berlin (or maybe it has never left it…). Today, while I was filming outside my window, just because I enjoyed looking at the trees in white, my washing machine started its spinning cycle. I thought then that my assignment for “The Noise Project” was done! I totally forgot the laundry, I was mesmerized by the snow falling down so intensively, in the middle of March…
When I read the challenge, I thought immediately about the Berliner public transport system. Sounds, time schedule, circulation… And then I thought of one duality I feel here: Berlin is a world city, but Berlin has many “Kieze” – a German word for neighborhoods. I´ve lived in many cities, but, to me, not all of them show this interesting and multiple capacity to be one and various.
I thought then about the cable car, which runs on my street. That is the transport I take to go outside from my “Kiez”, for studying, working, or going out. Whenever it passes by, one can guess what time it is. Not only is it predictable, but it is also quite oft the unique sound one listens to in this area. To me, its sound is what brings me back to the fact I am in a big city.
So, I decided for a sound that is part of the city, but, on the other hand, it means to me a way to be part of its heartbeat. I filmed during the last week, which, by the way, has got quite a temperature change (When spring arrives, after all?). It is possible to realize life in the neighborhood presents a different path than at a central and busy area. And at last, I would like to comment briefly another post from this project, from Alan Gleeson. It is so interesting we chose incidentally two different approaches! To me, it means this city shows up its several layers to all of us. Maybe it is only a matter of listening to it…
