Symphony of the Artificial Reef: Active Hydro-listening

The workshop focused especially on the acoustic ecology of the Barcelona sea, where since the 15th century various structures have been erected to protect the city's coastline. One of the latest iterations was installed in 2003: five reefs located two kilometers offshore. Marine life has populated the reefs over the past two decades, creating a thriving ecosystem and challenging reductionist ideas of a nature-culture binomial. Inspired by the questions posed by Sara Torres-Vega in her research “Escola del Mar: what do sea creatures know about pedagogy?” the workshop experimented with methodologies for active hydro-listening to the voices that make up the symphony of Barcelona's artificial reefs.