Presented at Texturizando Bogotá in Casa Común, Bogotá, Colombia on 05.08.2016

Bogotá is a frightening product of the post-colonial transformation in Colombia. Our inherited language is still strongly influenced by colonial expressions and the question arises for this work: How do unreflected expressions still generate a droop of non-hegemonic ideal subjects in a South American metropolis?

“Guache”, “Indio”, “Ñero”, “Guiso” and “Gomelo” are all expressions that position people in a particular social level. “Guache” comes from the Muisca language and means fighter. “Indio” means Indian in Spanish. “Ñero”, “Guiso” and “Gomelo” are adapted slang words that connote the financial appearance of a person. “Ñero” stands for very low, “Guiso” stands for someone from the working class without taste and “Gomelo” stands for the privileged ones who put expensive clothes on. Since the colony times such terms have, of course, changed but their function still uses the same colonial logic.

The audio material was developed in Bogotá for two months, and I randomly interviewed people on the streets for their personal understanding of such terms and how they use them in everyday life. From this archive, consisting of numerous different social positions as well as additional typical city sounds and noises, the sound landscape was compiled.