study on the sound of a 22

Every gun has a different sound, according to its caliber and the barrel’s length. A .22 is the first gun the immigrant trainee –man, woman and child- will likely encounter. Small and light, it is not as lethal as the bigger caliber weapons the beginner will be upgrading to, but the thrill is just the same. Likewise, its unmuffled sound is barely at the threshold of what a human ear may tolerate. The sound of a .22 is that of an immigrant’s Freedom 101

Study on the Sound of a 22 – Freedom for Beginners is a joint project of Paula Guersenzvaig and Ariana Hernandez-Reguant/HICCUP.

Field research for this project was conducted on December, 2017, at various gun ranges in Hialeah, Florida. 

Situated at the northwest corner of Miami-Dade county at the edge of the Everglades, Hialeah was always a sort of local frontier.  Just as during Prohibition it housed underground distilleries, it also was famous for its proliferating firearms’ manufacturing and assembling plants, and its gun stores, all of which effectively lobbied City Hall against local regulations. Today, it features at least three gun ranges, and multiple gun stores and pawn shops that also sell guns. Shooting ranges are popular among the mostly Cuban population, and often crowded. They do not require proof of either identity or shooting proficiency to rent and discharge a firearm.

Paula Guersenzvaig's installation was part of the Art Center-South Florida Art Basel open house and programs. It included a study on the firing sound of a .22 automatic pistol, recorded with a professional sound recorder during firing practice at a gun range in Hialeah. 

The sound of a single shot with a 22 caliber pistol was processed, through various technical processes in real time, and replayed aleatorily.  The goal was to generate a succession of immersive sound atmospheres that made it nearly impossible to identify the sound as that of a gun shot. In this way, she both called attention to the sound while rendering its identification, and therefore judgement, impossible. She then placed the sound in contrast with soothing images of a pond in the Everglades.