Introduction
What I call a place is where one remembers having been, which is not only made of space but also of time, it needs to be both, own its proper qualities, whether they are architecture, sounds or events. Some places have no buildings or dates to be remembered, but they produce their own soundtrack.
A rest area for trucks I came across while driving across Arizona and listening to baroque music on the Arizona Public Radio. As I drove closer, going in circles, something started to happen. Radio waves from an unknown station playing country music started to interfere with the baroque chamber music I was listening to. Such an incident is called cross modulation or a spurious emission.
The different waves would exchange “places” due to the parked trucks that acted like a wall, redirecting at times one music while blocking the other. During a full circle, the music would shift several times, punctually, in the same places. The baroque music re-emerges each time the car passes the truck where it reads AIR CUSHIONED RIDE. When a truck leaves, it opens a gap in the “truck wall” and creates a corridor for the country music to come back.
– Anri Sala