Quiero que me escuchen

“I want you to listen to me” is an interactive piece that explores the desire to communicate and be understood. The work presents an abstract and constantly changing composition, where users can modify parameters such as rotations and filling of visual elements. Although the adjustment ranges are predetermined by the creator’s aesthetic decisions, they offer enough freedom for the user to feel like the artist when generating new variations on the original work. However, the title raises an intriguing question: why does a visual work express the desire to be heard?

As the user interacts, they discover that, unlike other controls that affect only one feature, the sound control causes changes in multiple aspects of the composition—size, color, and rotation—transforming the work in more profound and unpredictable ways. Thus, “I want you to listen to me” invites the public to reflect on the importance of listening and empathizing with the experiences of others, in a time where human connection is more necessary than ever.

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

My work is developed in the p5.js environment and is made up of two main sections. The first includes a set of cubes, inspired by Vera Molnár’s work “Structure de Quadrilatéres”¹, to which a 3D dimension has been added. The second section consists of interactive controls that allow the viewer to modify visual parameters, giving them the opportunity to become their own artist. Furthermore, considering that today most people access multimedia content through mobile devices, the work is designed to be responsive, adapting to the size and format of the device in use.

The concept of “I want you to listen to me” aligns with César Aira’s idea in “On Contemporary Art”² that “creating values” implies intervening in the personal history of the viewer. Through interaction, I not only seek to offer a visual object, but also to foster a reflective experience that invites users to explore their relationship with sound and overstimulation. In this sense, the work functions as a support to narrate an intimate and emotional story, where I seek to place auditory hypersensitivity as the central axis of the experience.

Following Aira’s thinking, contemporary art goes beyond the creation of beautiful objects; It delves into what has not yet been done, where the story takes center stage. Thus, by modifying the parameters of the work, the viewer becomes a co-creator of their own story, beyond the mere aesthetics of the cubes. The work seeks to give voice to the experiences of those of us who face this high sensitivity to sounds and the inability to filter out background noise. My intention is to make visible how something that may seem trivial to some can profoundly affect the lives of those of us who experience it.

By transforming the audio of the work from peaceful to chaotic and increasing its volume, I intentionally seek to stun the viewer, reflecting the sonic overstimulation of everyday situations. When the sound reaches extreme levels, the work becomes uncontrolled: the rotations and sizes of the cubes are set to fixed values ​​that the user cannot modify, generating frustration and making it difficult to visualize the piece. This lack of control symbolizes how, in the face of overstimulation, many aspects of our lives are affected, while our senses become saturated and the nervous system goes on alert, our ability to concentrate and appreciate what is important decreases exponentially.

Finally, Fricke in “New Media”³, talks about “permanent creation” and the constant interaction between the artist and the viewer, ideas that resonate in this work. Here, creation is not presented as a finished object, but as an evolutionary process in which the viewer plays a fundamental role by modifying elements and configuring their own experience. Inspired by thoughts about “imagination” and “innocence” as creative tools, this work offers the user the necessary means to intervene in their visual and sensory development, making the act of creating accessible and stimulating for all.

To encourage empathy, a separate sound control has been included, allowing the viewer to decide whether to activate this dimension of the work, inviting them to explore the experience from different perspectives.

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