Cityphonic Walks Unveiling the Sonic Performativity of Everyday Life in the Urban Landscape

Abstract

The artistic research project Cityphonic Walks by Irini Kalogeropoulou, conducted during her artist residency at the Temporary Art Centre in Eindhoven, explores the “phonē” (voice) of a city, focusing on the sonic performativity of everyday life. It investigates how space performs itself through sound, the strategies that can be employed to intervene in it, and how listening can turn into a performative act.

The project sought ways to extend the voice of the city by tuning into the urban environment as one would tune into a symphony or an opera, exploring the interplay of sound, silence, conflict, and domesticity. Methods such as walking, listening, soundmaking, field recordings, soundscape composition, and the creation of verbal notation were employed to uncover underlying power structures and social dynamics. Although initially site-specific, they ultimately reflected broader social concerns.

Through solo and participatory soundwalks, as well as a solo exhibition, the project revealed the affective capacities of the soundscape and its ongoing role in shaping public spaces. It proposed experiential, physical, psychical, and imaginative interactions in everyday life within the urban environment, fostering a shared acoustic community that transcends language, embodiment, and spatiality.