“Afectos del Desastre” (Affects of Disaster) was an immersive performance installation created in 2023 by DESARTES, the Arts and Disasters Unit of CIGIDEN (Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management, Chile). Its objective was to delve into the emotional dimension of the human experience in the face of socio-environmental disasters related to economic practices. The installation combined live performance with new media elements to convey the experiences of three disasters that occurred in Chile, based on social research conducted by CIGIDEN: the fires in Santa Olga (consequence of the practices of the timber industry), the pollution in Puchuncaví, and the drought in Quillagua (both consequences of the mining industry’s practices). Each event was explored through a specific tunnel within the installation, offering a unique perspective on the performance. A quadraphonic acousmatic composition related to the addressed case was presented in each tunnel (which interacted with the performance), along with texts of testimonies from those who experienced these disasters firsthand. The music’s structure included a random distribution of some materials, allowing different versions to emerge each time. This album is, therefore, one of the many possible versions of the work.

From outside the installation, one could hear the three quadraphonic environments interweaving into a 12-channel sonic whole, an experience I attempted to replicate in the final track of this album, titled “Afectos del Desastre” (Affects of Disaster).

The papers related with the research carried out by CIGIDEN mentioned above are the following:

1) Puchuncaví: Tironi, M. (2018). Hypo-interventions: Intimate activism in toxic environments. Social Studies of Science, 48(3), 438-455.

2) Quillagua: Acuña, V., & Tironi, M. (2022). Extractivist droughts: Indigenous hydrosocial endurance in Quillagua, Chile. The Extractive Industries and Society, 9, 101027.

3) Santa Olga: González Gálvez, M., Gallegos, F., & Turén, V. (2021). Unfinished extinction and the velocities of capitalist sacrifices in the woodlands of central Chile. Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, 4(1), 1939491.

José Miguel Candela
(Santiago, Chile. Septiembre / September 2025)