Listening to the City: Artistic Articulation of Unwanted Sounds in Open Public Spaces

Abstract

In modern cities, noise caused by human activity increasingly shapes the individual's daily experience, being recognized as a factor that can seriously jeopardizes the health, quality of life, and general well-being of the population. Starting from the observation that the city’s soundscape has drastically changed and that excessive noise exposure has long-term consequences, this paper explores the possibility of manipulating noise through artistic practices. The central assumption is that noise is not merely an acoustic surplus to be eliminated, but a complex phenomenon which, through carefully targeted interventions, can be artistically articulated. To explore this, the paper employs a methodology that combines theoretical and qualitative analysis. The first part of the paper examines the nature and perception of sound through the theoretical approaches of phenomenology and affect theory. The second part analyses artistic practices in open public spaces that use “undesirable” sounds as the basis for artistic expression.  Key findings indicate that noise need not be treated solely as a communal problem. Through artistic articulation, it can serve as a resource for defining and shaping the identity of space. By doing so, undesirable sounds become building blocks of meaning and a means of spatial articulation in the contemporary urban environment.