Rail listening along the west side of the Willamette River. Photo: Marcus Fischer.
An (Almost) Equinox Soundwalk
2020
Listen to everything, to the sounds around you, to the thought-voices inside you,
Listen in silence. – Hildegard Westerkamp
Have we become dismissive of what takes no technology but only time and patience to perceive? Attentiveness alone can rival the most powerful magnifying lens. – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Created in Fall 2020 after months of COVID-19 restrictions and time apart, in-the-street uprisings for racial justice, and weeks under smoke choked skies, this walk was an invitation for a small group to gather (6 feet apart) and listen with the city of Portland. The equinox is a day of balance between light and dark, and as the sun set and the mood rose, listeners were welcomed to contemplate presence and absence (what do you hear? what do you not hear?), sounding and receiving (what sounds do you make? how can you invite new sounds to your ears?), and the space fluid spaces between land and water. Walkers were encouraged to slow down and allow their senses to rise up and surprise them.
Date: September 20, 2020
As part of an ongoing interest in extended documentation techniques, participants were given stamped postcards on which to offer post-walk reflections.
