atlantis(re)action
Empowerment of
Gender voice Acts of sound in Victoria Square
The project focuses on the issue of fragmentation in public squares, socially and in terms of gender. This fragmentation is usually represented in the form of isolated spaces, where women, especially immigrants, appear weak and 'powerless'. Their presence is brief in time and is manifested with a “weakness� in their voice, which is usually soft and low. Based on such observations, the medium of sound installation and action [sound acts] as a practice of intervention was used, inserting the recorded sound of women's voices into existing conversations at the square. The designed sound acts were developed in two phases; first, I realized and recorded actions of conversations, within a period of two months, with the help of women on the square. Then, I archived and ordered the collected material. The second phase was about the planning and realization of the in-situ broadcasting of the collected sound material and the direction of the new relations and conversations with the public, as a kind of performance. The observation Through regular visits to the square that lasted for almost a year it was observed that the frequent visitors -mostly immigrants from the Middle East, Balkan refugees and Greek inhabitants- created different and isolated social spaces where the male presence was dominant. Due to xenophobia, racism and the form of family structures, probably, women’s isolation in the private area of their house was also reflected in the space of the square, where they mostly created small groups that did not interact with each other. Women frequently visited the square and met with each other, but mostly when men were not around.
Moreover, it has been observed that the social spaces intensively formed private soundscapes with a variety of sound sources used by people, such as mobile phones, radio devices, televisions, speakers, or even their own voice. Eventually, sound was chosen as a tool of intervention, aiming to empower the presence of women on the square by recording their voices during conversations. Then, at a later stage, I broadcasted the recordings in the same place, intensifying thus the social contradictions between different public spheres and leading the way to new understandings and appropriations of the place. The specific forms of the sound installation intended to produce new small gatherings, encounters and conversations. While long-
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by
Angeliki Diakrousi
Department of Architecture University of Patras
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