„For twenty-five centuries, Western knowledge has tried to look upon the world. It has failed to understand that the world is not for the beholding. It is for hearing. It is not legible, but audible.“
My first years of professional experience as a sound engineer and acoustician gave me a solid foundation. However, it was my studies in the master’s program "Sound Studies" at the Berlin University of the Arts that fundamentally changed my perspective. During this time, I understood that sound is far more than frequencies, sine waves, and wall reflections.
Through learning from exceptional instructors and artists I recognized not only the deep-rooted connection between sound and our perception of the environment but also the fundamental role in shaping the meaning of our existence. This interplay between my technical and cultural background led me to explore the bridges between these two worlds, so I began to take an interest in how sound relates to the material world and our culture.
As you will see in my projects, the driving force that has shaped my work as an artist has been an unwavering need to discover and understand humanity. Existentialism, as the central axis of my research, is an attempt to reconnect with the self through experience. Placing auditory perception at the centre means understanding this medium - both receiver and channel of the outside world - as an essential feature of life. A phenomenon that has accompanied and shaped this earth long before the existence of humankind, influencing our evolution, way of life, and development. "It all began with a big bang." This phenomenon, as omnipresent as it is holistic, often goes unnoticed or unappreciated in our lives, yet it is a decisive factor: in determining where we live, how we feel, and with whom we interact.
Viewing my work from this perspective forces me to renegotiate art as a reactive medium – as a commentary on pressing issues in our contemporary society. Based on scientific research, my art aims to connect the audience with everyday, recognizable elements, thus influencing their own perception and existence.
I am currently deepening my curiosity about these themes as a member of the Acoustic Heritage Collective. This collective uses the practice of sound art to explore new ways of representing and valuing acoustic and sonic cultural heritage. Part of our approach is based on academic research, into which we incorporate narrative elements of listening to represent cases relevant to communities. For instance, we have presented interdisciplinary work to develop strategies for preserving the sound mirrors of Abbott’s Cliff or incorporating acoustic spaces into the digitization of cultural heritage – such as the air raid shelters built during the Spanish Civil War in Barcelona.
Looking back at my projects, I see a respect for the old and a curiosity for the new. Thus, I confront aesthetically resistant and thematically memory-related material with a method of projection and reflection for future generations.
Ilustration by Valentine Emilia BossertEDUCATION
1996 - 2004: Universidad Tecnológica Vicente Pérez Rosales Santiago de Chile.
Field of study: Engineering
Job title: Graduate engineer for sound and acoustics
Thesis: “Analysis of the influence of external noise sources on the noise level in classrooms of educational institutions in the Región Metropolitana, Santiago de Chile.”
2012 - 2014: Universität der Künste, Berlin, Deutschland.
Field of study: Art
Master's degree: Master's degree in ‘Sound Studies’. Master of Arts.
Master's thesis: “Auditory representation of the social structure of Berlin backyards.”
ACADEMY
August 2024: Paper
“Industrial Archaeoacoustics, Methods and Applications for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The Case of the MNACTEC Territorial System "Sounds of the Industry" Project.”
https://revistes.uab.cat/treballsarqueologia
October 2023: EuropeanaTech 2023 Conference - Explore, Engage, Experience: cultural heritage in the data space and beyond, Niederlande, Den Haag.
"Preservation of Acoustic Heritage: A Workshop on Safeguarding, Digitization, and Immersive Experiences."
https://pro.europeana.eu/page/conference
June 2023: Presentation at the Sounding Modernism: An Interdisciplinary Conference, King’s College London.
"Acoustic Heritage of the Abbot's Cliff Sound Mirror: Strategies for Its Preservation Considering Past Use, Current Conditions, and Future Applications"
https://soundingmodernism.wordpress.com/
March 2023 - Paper
“Acoustic Heritage of the Logberg in Thingvellir National Park: Impulse Response Library and an Approach for Future Studies.”
October 2022 - Presentation at the SC2022 Conference at the University of Kent.
"Simulated Acoustic Spaces in Digital Artistic Practice."
https://research.kent.ac.uk/sonic-palimpsest/sc2022/
September 2021 - Workshop at the Iceland University of the Arts / NAIP: European Master in Music, Prof. Berglind María Tómasdóttir.
September 2021 - Lecture at the University of Iceland / Course on Cultural Heritage, Prof. Vilhelmína Jónsdóttir, Department of Folklore/Ethnology, University of Iceland.
RESIDENCIES AND SCHOLARSHIPS
April 2025 - Mobility Grant Culture Moves Europe
Safeguarding the acoustic heritage of UNESCO World site Hljóðaklettar (Echo Rocks)
March 2024 - Project Funding Goethe Institut e.V.
International co-productions that support collaborative and dialogue-based work processes in the fields of music, dance, theatre and performance art.
July 2023 - Residence Project MANIFEST
An artistic journey that sheds new light on Europe's collective memory of the transatlantic trade in enslaved people and the existing cultural traces. Budapest, Lisbon, Nantes.
October 2022 - Artist in Residence Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) @ A+E Lab
Universität von Kent, Wellenfeldsynthese Artist in Residence @A+E Lab, Chatham, UK.
September 2022 - Residence Goethe-Institut e.V.
Virtual Preparation for Residencies at MONOM Berlin
September 2021 - Mobility Grant I-Portunus in the field of cultural heritage
Preservation of the acoustic heritage of Thingvellir National Park’, Iceland.
EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
2024 - Narrow Backroads: Antic Teatre, Barcelona, Spanien. Im Rahmen des Festivals Influx.
2024 - Notes on Narrows Backroads: frei-raum art space, Berlin, Deutschland. Im Rahmen von „8ight // for 8 audiovisual exhibitions“.
2024 - Sonic Boom: Galerie L‘Atelier, Nantes, Frankreich. Im Rahmen von Project Manifest EU.
2023 - Journey to the Center of the Sound: Cine Zumzeig, Barcelona, Spanien. Im Rahmen des International Cooperative Film Festival.
2019 - Thielenbrücke Music Festival: Prachtwerk, Berlin, Deutschland. Im Rahmen des Festivals „48 Std Neukölln“.
2017 - Backsteine II: Galería Mommsen, Berlín, Deutschland.
2015 - Dazwischen: Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Deutschland. Im Rahmen von der Gruppeausstellung „Returning to Sender“.
2014 - Hofbox: Greenhouse, Berlin, Deutschland. Abschlussausstellung Master Sound Studies.
2013 - Konstellation: CTM Festival, Berlin, Deutschland.
2012 - Klangkörper: Berliner Festspiele, Berlin, Deutschland.