Soundwave ((4)) Festival: Phantom Power | Yerba Buena Gardens

Submitted by the Event Organizer

The Bay Area Sound Ecology (BASE) realizes “Phantom Power,” a free site‐specific concert superimposing potential and vanished soundscapes over the existing sonicscape at Yerba Beuna Gardens, in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The Gardens is host to myriad contemporary sonic identifiers, to others, the gardens represents other soundscapes which were lost to history, which never came to be, or which may yet come to pass. BASE co-chairs Aaron Ximm and Jeremiah Moore curates a selection of artists that envisions the concert as a transient “intervention,” reminding listeners that familiar soundscape of the places we inhabit, like sound itself, is ephemeral and contingent. Composers will present short works that introduce a subtle layer of sound to the existing environment, evoking how the site sounded years ago, or how it might someday sound. Yerba Beuna Gardens has many layers of history to explore, and for its unique situation amid the cultural institutions and life of the city.

A moment of focused listening will be set aside, to consciously reflect on the soundscape as it currently exist. Artists will then introduce their work and discuss their vision. A Q&A session will convene after the event to discuss the project’s contrasting visions.

Note: This is a low-environmental impact event using a crowd-sourced “sound cloud”. Attendees are asked to bring ipods, CD players, small portable speakers, boomboxes (we will have a limited supply as well). The compositions would be distributed to audience-participants beforehand via the internet (link to downloadable mp3s available in June), and at the event on CDs.

Send RSVP to rsvp@me-di-ate.net

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.