HORN BLOW: Communication, music or pollution?
Car horns are a key traffic communication device in India. I was shocked by the sound of them at first, but I slowly got used to them. I could hear many types of horns, and I started to envisage them as some kind of experimental music that went on in the streets. In addition I could see that most of the people enjoyed blowing their car’s horns, doing it naturally, sometimes playing the horns for the sake of it.

I felt the desire to take part in this strange communication game and I decided to create a device that would control different horn sounds. By using this device me or anybody else could compose his/her own improvisation or horn sound composition. Additionally they could interact with the traffic and people in the streets. 

I recycled the front part of an out of use rickshaw, I fixed different horns to it, and also made a keyboard that people could use to produce different horn sounds. This work was carried out with the help of local craftsmen, which made my experience very enriching and interesting. 

Once finished and tested, I brought the rickshaw out to the streets of Partapur. Local people and I played for about 3-4 hours during which we communicated, listened, enjoyed, got tired, spoke about music, traffic, sound pollution, vehicles, habits, education, society, etc. 

The ‘overdose’ of sounds was effective and unforgettable. I hope that after this experience no one can hear the horn sounds without thinking of different tunes and creating other connections and associations to what I would like to call ‘traffic symphony’.