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The ambient sound recorded under Lisbon's 25 de Abril bridge (flow of vehicles on a metal bridge, over water) has a certain ambiguity: a 'noise' close to silence, though deafening, in its lack of information. It is continuous, permanent, but the perception of it moves from a sort of invading and menacing swarm to harmonic periods we have the feeling to distinguish distant and deep voices – ancient choirs or sailors' requiems. The bridge is a monument associated with political power and its overthrow: originally named after Salazar, it was renamed the April 25 Bridge after the Carnation Revolution. Two commemorative coins, that give the installation its title, act as a (split) caption and spatialize the shift in power: a 2 euro coin of the April 25th bridge is hung at the entrance of the stairs while a coin minted under the Salazar regime depicting this same bridge then named 'ponte Salazar' and placed inside a microphone shock mount, is to be seen within the architectural imbalance between two steps at the corner of the staircase and facing a narrow and high wall. Through headphones, and facing a coin in praise of the figure of the authoritarian regime set up in place of the microphone that has been removed, one inwardly hears a deep humming like the complaint from those who don't have the space to express, who are not allowed to write History.
This red bridge of Lisbon is also an iconic structure similar to the bridge of San Francisco, common to these two cities destroyed by an earthquake. Like earthquake-resistant architectures, bridges have always been a challenge as they must be designed to withstand significant traffic-induced vibrations. Here it becomes a figure of the tumult and upheavals of History.