La Guerra

La Guerra is a commissioned work. The sound piece evokes the sites of the Spanish Civil War through ordinary sounds such as storms, airplanes, trains, roads, seagulls and refrigerators. All the sounds come from recordings made specifically for this purpose in different places, such as Madrid, Barcelona and Belchite, among others, in which the Civil War becomes present through the poetics of these empty, abandoned and often forgotten spaces.

The composition shows the changes that the settings of the Civil War have undergone, in terms of both sonority and function, uncovering traces of an active, day-to-day war that lead to a new interpretation of the meaning of those everyday sounds and a re-examination of the settings themselves. Is it possible to think of history and the past through the sites and ruins left behind by that history? What are these spaces in which remnants of the Civil War are found?

The podcast is accompanied by two collaborations coordinated by the artist. One is a series of photographs taken where the recordings were made, which raises a formal question about the fundamental differences between photography and phonography and, at the same time, points to the commercial use, which becomes political use, of these territories. The other is a text by Jesús Carrillo that delves into the questions about war addressed in the podcast.

Broadcasts

Radio Reina Sofía (2013)

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Cibeles Bello, Manuel Calurano, Jesús Carrillo, José Luis Espejo, Marcello Liberato, Blanca Rego and Zacarías.