ABSTRACT
In 1983, on the occasion of the centenary of the Brooklyn Bridge, Bill Fontana realized a sound network that connected several sites in the city of New York. A sound network was created through an acoustic paradox: listening to de-contextualized familiar sounds and whose meaning had been altered was a surprising experience. The psychological impact of the sound sculpture on the people was impressive also because the sound sources were invisible. The sound sculpture was set up at the Stadshuset, the centre of the city, and was once again accompanied by a radio broadcast. During the last decades, Fontana has been creating a series of large-scale installations called Acoustical Views, in several cities such as Venice, Kyoto and Paris. Fundamental elements in this operation of re-collocating sounds are the acoustic properties of places, defined by their spatial characteristics.
