The trunk of Sounds of Chile is an imposing sculpture made by Osvaldo Peña which measures approximately 4 meters in length and 1, 6 meters in diameter. The piece is sculpted entirely from a cypress tree trunk. This structure is complemented by sound art in a work created by Luis Barrie, the acoustic engineer responsible for this exhaustive and innovative sound documentation that brings forth the oral heritage and auditive landscape – the soundscape – of our country.
On approaching the sculpture, visitors will hear characteristic sounds of Chile that come forth from 6 speakers that are strategically installed within the Trunk within its natural cracks, knots and hollows. The sculpture comes to an end in the shape of a woman´s face that appears to be exposed to the wind.
Among the many sounds that were documented, we hear the sounds of high tides at lighthouses on the southern shores; the mining explosions heard at Chuquicamata; the ceremonies of native peoples; the colonies of sea lions; and the town criers of the Valle del Elqui. There is also the sound of waves on solitary beaches; the response to a home team goal by the crowd in a soccer stadium; the prayer chants in “mapuzugun” of the Mapuche Indians and their song to the divine. There is also the bell toll from the Merced Cathedral in Santiago; the wine on the Magellanic Strait; the liturgy from the churches of Chiloé; the musicians of the streets of Valparaíso; and even the music of the stars heard in the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) of the European Southern Observatory in San Pedro de Atacama. Finally, hundreds of voices, stories, and words in speech make up another important part of the sounds heard in our land.
This work allows the visitor to discover, for example, that musical sound is dependent upon altitude because “to sing in the valleys is not the same as to sing on the slopes of the Volcano Licancabur, 5000 meters above sea level, where the song becomes slower and more rhythmic”; or to learn that the echo of a valley is indeed the deity to whom we owe the existence of the music.
In order to design the journey of sounds that make up this work of sound art, the creators based their artistic vision on a poem written by Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1945, titled “Brief Auditory Map of Chile.” The creators articulated this poetic vision with the documentation of sounds taken along the length and width of the country that make up this magnificent installation.