SOUNDS OF AWARENESS

SOUNDS OF AWARENESS

By Marissa Martinez

SJ SOUNDS

San José and the Bay Area have so many bubbles and micro-bubbles of different worlds, we often don’t know what our neighbors on the other side of town experience every day. The purpose of SJ Sounds is to meaningfully present the realities so many of us live — and build a bridge of understanding and awareness for the rest of the world to walk across and experience it with us.

“The purpose of SJ Sounds is to meaningfully present the realities so many of us live...”

SJ Sounds is a series of experimental art installations located throughout San José, using sound and storytelling to explore present-day issues such as housing, airport pollution, and climate change. Sound designers and writers from all across the Bay Area came together to create these worlds for us to examine and to reflect on what direction our community’s future can move towards.

“SJ Sounds is a series of experimental art installations located throughout San José...”

JAVIER MENDOZA shares his SJ Sounds experiences:

When I think of bridges and my art, the only type of bridge I think of is a metaphysical bridge. According to my dictionary, a metaphysical bridge is a bridge that transports you from one reality to another. My art aims to be the conduit that facilitates said transportation. For SJ Sounds, I got to write a piece about the consequences the Reid-Hillview Airport has on the East Side San José community. The aircraft coming from that airport pollutes the East Side with lead emissions and as a result, the community has disproportionate amounts of lead in their blood. I explore this crisis through the everyday moments of a soccer-loving father-daughter story. This piece aims to transport you to their everyday lives where you witness the consequences of having too much lead in your blood. I hope you can walk this metaphysical bridge and visit this reality like I did.

“When I think of bridges and my art, the only type of bridge I think of is a metaphysical bridge.”