A Sound Project?

On this rotunda, or traffic island, at the frantic corner of Carrera 3 and Calle 19, the city plans to install the city's first audible artwork.

At a public information meeting held this evening in La Candelaria, I asked a functionary how in the

Can you hear it?

world anybody would here the noises amidst the honking cars, yelling drivers and roaring buses.

"That's the challenge," the functionary admitted.

And yes, it will be a challenge, perhaps an insurmountable one.

At the end of each hour, the artwork is supposed to project the sounds of birds tweating toward two neighboring spots across multiple lanes or traffic: the entrance to the Las Aguas TransMilenio station and the sidewalk in front of the Colombo-Americano center. That begs the question of why they don't instead install loudspeakers in the sidewalk at these spots. The answer: This is art.

Other challenges will include the dogs and homeless people who inhabit the spot and aren't great respecters of artwork.

Quite a spot for a soundwork.

Work is projected to start in about 15 days and last about a month, so expect the installation to be finished by year's end - if they hurry.

The work, to be called 'Scene Under Construction,' is by Oswaldo Maciá, a Cartagena native who lives in London. Maciá's was selected from among 72 proposals for the spot. It is Bogotá's first 'sonic sculpture.'







Here's an update:

Photo taken in November 2016. Nothing's here - mercifully. But who pocketed the money?

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours