Carola Ureta Marín

This work is a tribute to all the eyes unjustifiably lost due to the police shootings during the Social Uprising in Chile, 2019-2020. This collaborative artistic exploration gives a voice to the blinded eyes. Light and dark and the act of blinking become a language, a code. The message, ‘this work is a tribute to all those eyes unjustifiably lost during the demonstration in 2019, Chile’ is rendered into morse code, the most established military way of communication. 

The essence of the message is spread all over the world through its interpretation by different musicians of the Chilean diaspora. The reproduction of the soundtracks activates not only the message but the memory that evokes the protest and at the same time, creates a connection with the diaspora. The original message, emerging from the narrowest country in South America, finds an active, nutritive and transformative conversation process with the musicians, through their musicalisation, that globally resonates. In this project, the power of transfiguration as a method of transformation – changing the form in a way that reveals its nature and culture – brings the past into the present and reinvents it.

This work also seeks to explore new and more inclusive forms of communication, learning, entertainment, healing and repair processes through art and design.

Sonic Pamphlet is a compilation of ten soundtracks created by ten musicians. Each soundtrack intrinsically includes the essence of the following message translated into morse code: 

'This work is a tribute to all those eyes unjustifiably lost during demonstrations in 2O19, Chile'

Therefore, each time the track is played, the coded message is repeatedly activated, heard again and again. A standard definition of the word 'activation' is the act of causing something to start or start working, and applied to Sonic Pamphlet, the political message operates over and over again. As previously stated, the purpose of this work is to be a tribute to all the lost eyes. This statement will sound every time the musical themes are played.

A message without activation is frozen information, a static, petrified or mute notion. It is almost like a scream without an echo. This idea is reminiscent of Walter Benjamin’s book, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, and also Susan Sontag's text, ‘Posters: Advertisement, Art, Political Artifact, Commodity’ – in which she states that posters exist to be reproduced, to go out in multiples; they were never intended to exist as a single piece.

In the case of the soundtracks, they need to be played in order to hear them. Thus, far from being a simple playlist, this album is titled Sonic Pamphlet to draw attention to the history of the pamphlet as an important protest and political campaign tool that, due to low production and distribution costs, afforded its producers the freedom to play with formats, layout and periodicity.

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM

All the research and the creative process developed in this work has been captured in a publication that aims to be shared around the world. For this reason, and following the principles of 'Calling Lights', you can download this edition online for free. Its small format and black and white design are in line with being a low-cost, easy-to-reproduce, mass-produced protest tool. This does not mean that the design is not thoughtful, detailed and without unique reading rhythm. Moreover, this material is an object that seeks to communicate, reflect and learn from social processes and ethical issues that require greater care.

All we ask is that you name the work correctly and cite the artists where appropriate. A limited print edition is also available to celebrate the launch of the project and thank its contributors. 

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