an aural cartography of porto, portugal.

the aural wanderer is an application written in MAX/MSP for a prototype audio installation named aural:wandering, inviting participants to navigate across the aural landscape of Porto. users explore a generative ecosystem, transforming the compositional nature of the soundscapes by exploring different layers of the sonic space.

abstract:

From the growing cultural metamorphosis of the Historical Centre of Porto comes a transformation of its sonic heritage, concealed within the physical fabric of the city and rewriting the sensorial link between the communities and their spaces. Through an interactive audio installation that we call Aural Wandering, we bring listeners closer to the sensorial fabric of Porto, walking through the sonic seams of the city and the links that unite them. The participants navigate an aural cartography of the Historic Centre of Porto, untangling an interdependent relationship among the internal sound elements and themselves, acting as composers of the surrounding sound space, shaping the experience and dissecting the landscape and its places. The experience reveals itself as a space of meditation through interaction. The communion between the act of exploring, creating and listening strengthens the bond between people and their communities, fostering a collaborative experience among the participants in order to draw them closer to the sonic richness of familiar places and culture itself, which is by nature theirs.

marcelo sousa — 2019

a big thank you to gui, paulo, luis and tiago for helping me make this possible.