A site-specific interactive sound installation commissioned by the Port of San Diego, presented over two Saturday afternoons on the edge of Cesar Chavez Park pier in Barrio Logan — a physical threshold between water and land, nature and industrial structure.

Eight live sound sources were channeled simultaneously to discrete listening portals: sound sculptures, architectural surfaces, electrical interference, and the natural environment both above and below the waterline. At each portal, audiences could isolate and layer these streams on individual mixers — sounds normally inaudible, made suddenly present and controllable.

The act of mixing made listeners aware of what they were actually hearing. The piece doesn’t resolve the tension between nature and technological evolution — it hands that tension directly to the audience and asks them to compose with it.

Video Documentation:

Sounds:

Tide Rattler

A partially submerged percussive raft made of vintage buoys, bamboo, and metal tubes.

Bell Chime

An interactive and kinetic circle of bells.

Wind Harp

A 12-foot pillar of wood, stainless steel, concrete and piano strings.

Wind Mallets

Striking the metal pier railing.

Ocean Tide Ambiance

Live feed of water and waves.

Open Air Pier Ambiance

Live feed of sounds in the air.

Snapping Shrimp

The sounds of snapping shrimp which live under the pier.

Electrical Ambiance

Sourced from the frequencies emitted by digital technology.

 

Credits:

Audio Engineering and Technology by Robert Mason

Instrument Fabrication by Reuben Foat

Structural Engineer Consulting by Kleinfelder

Funded by The Port of San Diego

Special thanks to volunteers: Andrea Olvera, Jonah Paraiso and Charles L. Wilson

View the online catalog here