Homenaje al Tren de Puerto Montt is a piece about the history of the dead train network in the south of Chile.
In the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, trains were put out of service to replace them with a truck-only distribution of products. Afterwards, the government of Ricardo Lagos tried to bring back the train projects, but negligent legislations perpetuated the death of trains in the region.
With two DIY train whistles and high pressure air tanks, we activated -with a short but loud sound event- three different spaces where the train used to pass by, and where now only abandoned spaces are left.
We didn’t want to bring the train back to life, but rather to understand that history passes by and things die. Just as sound disappears in time, with a vanishing sonic gesture we wanted to acknowledge the fragility, but poetical presence of the train in the city of Puerto Montt.
In the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, trains were put out of service to replace them with a truck-only distribution of products. Afterwards, the government of Ricardo Lagos tried to bring back the train projects, but negligent legislations perpetuated the death of trains in the region.
With two DIY train whistles and high pressure air tanks, we activated -with a short but loud sound event- three different spaces where the train used to pass by, and where now only abandoned spaces are left.
We didn’t want to bring the train back to life, but rather to understand that history passes by and things die. Just as sound disappears in time, with a vanishing sonic gesture we wanted to acknowledge the fragility, but poetical presence of the train in the city of Puerto Montt.
Whistles Construction: Cristian Alcaras,
Patricio Ijerra, Francisco Riffo Gómez.
Performers: Esteban Pérez & Francisco Riffo Gómez.
Video & Photos: Esteban Pérez.
Year: 2021
Performers: Esteban Pérez & Francisco Riffo Gómez.
Video & Photos: Esteban Pérez.
Year: 2021