Semantic matter lab collaborated with sound artist katrinem and the Goethe Institute Boston to explore the soundscapes of one of the largest upcoming infrastructural interventions in the city of Boston: the transformation and covering of the I-90 turnpike through the Boston Chinatown neighborhood.

Path of Awareness is an artistic walking format that explores how space is experienced through conscious movement and listening. Developed for Chinatown in Boston, this edition responds to the neighborhood’s layered architecture and the presence of Interstate 90, whose continuous infrastructural sound shapes the area’s atmosphere.

Through a steady, moderate pace and deliberately open listening, participants expand their auditory field beyond the habitual filtering of everyday life. The walk invites attention to subtle acoustic shifts: reverberations between buildings, the masking and revealing of voices, the rhythm of traffic, and the sound of one’s own footsteps meeting pavement and concrete. Shoes become instruments; walking becomes a dialogue with architecture.

The site-specific route turns the path itself into the destination. Thresholds—between quiet and noise, enclosure and exposure—emerge as lived spatial moments. Listening while walking reveals that infrastructure is not only seen but also heard, felt, and embodied.

Since 2012, more than 25 Path of Awareness works by katrinem have been realized worldwide, including in Berlin, Linz, New York, Tehran, Mexico City, and Marseille. Sounding Chinatown continues this evolving practice at a critical moment of urban transformation.

Path of Awareness – Sounding Chinatown is the first phase of a multi-part international artistic research project at the intersection of sound art, urban perception, and urban development initiated by stadtmusik (Sam Auinger and Dietmar Offenhuber). It takes as its point of departure the ongoing infrastructure initiative Reconnecting Chinatown, addressing the spatial and social ruptures caused by the Interstate 90 corridor.

A project by katrinem, with performances by Paula Martin Rivero and Chucho Ocampo. Documentation Sebastian Gonzalez Quintero

Presented as part of the Walking Festival of Sound curated by Jacek Smolicki and Tim Shaw

Made possible with the support from Goethe Institute Boston and the College of Arts Media and Design Northeastern.