Cais
do gás
When we were strolling around the city looking for a place that had a sound identity we went straight to the bridge over the Tagus, because it seemed to us the most obvious place – depending on the wind you can hear the bridge in several locations in the city. We recorded audio with a good microphone and we stood there under the bridge looking up and listening to the diversity of sounds the car movement produces. The sound of the bridge had an overwhelming intensity. We decided to walk away but we still wanted to hear the bridge from afar and to have it on the horizon, we remembered the wharves near Cais do Sodré. Talking to friends we asked them which city sounds had caught their attention and Maria told us of a sound the boats’ platforms made… That’s when we arrived at the gas pier. This place has a very strong sound identity and from there you can see the bridge, the city, people arriving and getting into the boats, fishermen, lost people and all the opposing forces inherent to a public space which is simultaneously a place of passage, pause, work and which encloses in the present its several pasts and possible futures.
It was through these elements that we came closer to the pier and it was also from these elements that we created this sound experience. Hence the constant description and dialogue typical of those who listen and watch, but also of those who show. The naming appears as a basic means to draw us closer to the place – but while it allows an ownership it also excludes a series of other elements that end up existing beyond the spoken word.
Formally we opted for something with a performing identity that creates a musical atmosphere which is sometimes absurd, a voice that alongside a possible alienation also causes the recognition of the body by the listener.
If your facing the river (rio Tejo), the gas pier is on the right side of the fluvial station of Cais do Sodré. The exact spot to start listening to this sound piece is seated in the wall, next to the stairs, that's on the right side of this photo, then, you just need to follow what you hear.
+ Google maps
“…what if we say
what we see to see
what we say
what we see…”
Tim Etchells with
Sofia Dias & Vitor Roriz
Bio
Sofia Dias e Vítor Roriz are independent dancers and choreographers collaborating since 2006 in the research and devising of several pieces, presented in Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, Belgium, England, Holland, Slovenia, Cyprus, Poland, Finland, Brazil and Austria. Since the beginning of their collaboration they have been supported by several artistic organizations such as: Bomba Suicida, Cia Clara Andermatt, Eira, Capa/Devir, Alkantara, Negócio/ZDB, Fórum Dança, O Rumo do Fumo, among others. They are associate artists of Materiais Diversos
and of O Espaço do Tempo.
http://sofiadiasvitorroriz.blogspot.pt/
