PICNIC TENTS

Have COVID-19 restrictions changed your routine? For me, one of the most impactful changes involved dining.  The new eating areas, such as this tented picnic area, offered me more than just a place to eat. In this new space, we form new routines, like enjoying the weather, studying, eating, or just sitting by ourselves to listen. Social scientist Michel de Certeau studied how new spaces are formed when we change their use. We can recognize new spaces physically - in this case, the tents, chairs, and tables that are situated through campus. We also recognize new spaces conceptually; we must agree on the function of these new spaces.  

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We can quickly recognize a space and its function visually (the tent outlines an area), but often do not consider how spaces can be understood through sound. There are two ways in which we could understand these spots on campus. First, we can define them by the sounds that are produced only in those spaces, isolated from the rest of the campus. An example would be, the sound of people talking or eating define the tents, but not the ones coming from right outside them, like birds. Secondly, we can think in a way that sounds from the tents and their surroundings define the spaces. This could be seen when we walk through theses spaces, over-hear conversations, or say hello to someone nearby. The unclearness of the sound boundaries gives us the choice to be part of the social gathering or not. This phenomenon brings some sense of the old normality that we had pre-COVID, in which we had more spaces with sound barriers that were blurry, like a bus, the subway, and restaurants. Think about how the tents have changed the soundscape. What was the soundscape in those spots one or two years ago? 

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I relate the sounds in the tents to the Latin concept of the sobre-mesa, the time we get to sit at a table with family and/or friends, have a deep or light conversation while drinking tea or coffee just after lunch or dinner. The tents are such a great example of this. There is no need to be part of the “action”, just by being there you are part of the community that the tent represents.  The practice of sobre-mesa is an essential part in almost every culture in Latin America, as well as places like Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. This social gathering could be defined by what happens in the actual place, the dining table, but also by what happens in its immediate surroundings.   One analogy is the chorus in Ancient Greek plays. In those, the chorus is in the background, witnessing what is happen by not participating directly. With that in mind, people at a certain table have the leading roles in the sobre-mesa, but the people around are also participating in this sound and activity.  

Listen very carefully to the next audio clip. There is not much going on, so you can easily recognize everything that appears on the soundscape. Can you hear the people walking by, the birds and he wind blowing? Can you picture yourself at a table under one of the tents and thinking “yes, this is how the tents sound like”? Try to listen to every little detail in the audio clip. The way the birds sing; is it just one or more? The way the wind saturates the clip. 

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It is very important to have these new spaces in which, one part of the day is full of life and on the other side, there are quieter and allows us to decompress tensions and stress just by being able to enjoy moments where we can feel and hear that we are part of a bigger community.