« It’s up to us to start listening as deeply as possible and, in a way, to begin recognizing that our perception of the world provides us with information and a future that we might not have if we maintained the single, fixed view that we have. » Lawrence English

Special thanks to the outstanding team from Benin (Ambroisine, Ségangan de Ganvier, Pierre, Désordre, Achille) without whom the audio recordings would not have had this quality. Thanks to ENSATT, CNSMD, the institutes, and all the individuals who helped bring this project to fruition.

Synopsis

The sun set in the current stream. Night settled on the square, veiling the border of the sidewalk. It craves imagination, spatial deduction which with darkness illuminates each of us. The eyes of urbanized fauna gradually invade the square. The cries, the songs echo softly. The city now oscillates between human daytime activity and nocturnal animal wandering. Has harmony become sovereign? Shrill radars repel docile beasts from their habitats and guide the flow of the thirsty: control of this wild world is omnipresent. Dawn breaks. Wild beings no longer cross the square, nor any of the island neighborhoods. They divert them by taking forested strips. These same strips were the subject of large demolition operations for a large number of metropolises about a decade ago, increasing residents’ contact with nature. It had been scientifically proven that this proximity would reduce epidemics, neurodegenerative diseases, and capitalist madness. Rays reveal a maintained forested area, a vast pond, and the verdant hill. Rhythmic impacts, sluggish movements, the hum of voices then reveal to us the uses of the people of Lyon on this January day in 2068.

Description of the project

In 2068, forests have been introduced into the heart of cities, contributing to climate change control. The air and water are cleaner. Relationships between people are more peaceful. Pollution has significantly decreased. Public spaces are now the lungs of cities. Wildlife has diversified, and endemic species coexist with some individuals from African animal groups that have migrated northward. This transition has been accompanied by a musical movement as characteristic of its time as rock was in the 1960s, carrying the hopes and fervor of youth towards the realisation of “utopia”. Sound was initially used as a sound barrier, keeping animals away from human settlements, ensuring the necessary safety of individuals, the hygiene of spaces reserved for humans, serenity, and harmony. Sound emitters were integrated into the urban environment in a way that blends with it. Only the ear can detect their presence. Then the government began using sound to optimise people’s flows, make life more pleasant, and distribute groups. Gradually, to better guide people, prohibit certain accesses to certain places for certain categories of people… The populations having abandoned news channels, the government deployed fleets of drones imposing continuous information in the streets. The forest has been extended to all public spaces, preventing large gatherings. January 2068. Increasingly, sound constrains populations, governs lives, becomes unbearable. Under the apparent tranquility of the forest, chaos now grows. … soon there will be a May. The sounds used for this video were recorded in Place Saint Jean and in the Mexican desert to create the ambiance of 2068. The unconventional sounds added come from frequency modulation synthesis and recordings of instruments.

“A subtle way to reintroduce life and its sound productions closer to our habitats. Great finesse of the finely articulated graphics with the sound model of 2068.”

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