A Soundscape of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
Audio Recording:
The audio recording is captured by Danielle Cosco, a participant in the University of British Columbia’s Urban Ethnographic Field School, while walking during field research in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in summer 2024.
Presentation and Audience Engagement:
During the final project presentations at an event concluding the field school, Danielle Cosco and her group, including Emma Nguyen and Darren Ragoonath, played the audio recording. Prior to the playback, audience members were given origami papers and asked to write down their thoughts inspired by the soundscape. These messages were transformed into origami flowers, contributing to a collaborative art piece titled “Bottle Cap Blossoms: Messages of Hope.”
The Resulting Artwork and Its Description:
The group’s description of the collaborative art piece reads:
Inspired by the bottle cap art surrounding the playground in Oppenheimer Park [in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside], this piece is composed of bottle caps found on the grounds of the University of British Columbia and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Nature’s perseverance is reflected through the origami flowers blooming from the bottle cap roots, symbolizing the resilient spirit of the Downtown Eastside. The petals bear messages of hope, each one personally written by the 2024 UEFS [Urban Ethnographic Field School] class, faculty, and friends. Ultimately, this art piece serves as a reminder of the innovation and enduring strength of the Downtown Eastside, the UBC Learning Exchange, and their associated communities.
Danielle Cosco, Darren Ragoonath, Emma Ngyuen, UEFS 2024
Current Display:
The art piece is currently displayed at the UBC Learning Exchange, the organization with which the group members partnered during their field research.