Buzzwa(o)l(r)k(d)

BUZZWA(O)L(R)K(D) happens during Sonic Acts Biennial 2022 and occurs on the occasion of the work Hunting Mosquitos which explores urban sound technologies and the socio-political implications of their use. The work, supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL, examines the 'Mosquito alarm' or 'The Mosquito', a technology used in public places in Rotterdam that emits sound at a high frequency, audible only to young people to deter them from loitering. It comes as a solution, activated mostly during the night, to issues of urban crime and security. Its use has triggered discussions about the extent to which this technology constitutes discrimination.

Looking at loitering as both pollution and excess, Angeliki Diakrousi invites you to join us in hidden and regulated public spaces at the centre of Amsterdam. This night walk playfully unfolds through 'silent' sounds and anecdotes from the city of Rotterdam – translated to the Amsterdam context – with the use of speakers and special sonic detectors including the Mosquito Harmonizer developed in collaboration with MAYB Studio (Mitchell Akiyama & Maria Yablonia). The materials gathered during this expanded time hanging out with others, researching, walking, and encountering loitering teenagers and inhabitants, will offer a starting point in considering Amsterdam’s borders, frequencies and other possible resonances. The tour is a continuation of a walk that took place in Rotterdam with Goethe-Institut of Rotterdam and Leeszaal.