Das himmlische Kind. Site-specific sound installation, Zurich University of the Arts, 2015

 

 

 

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Das himmlische Kind

Multi-channel sound installation, 2015

The title Das himmlische Kind (i.e. The heavenly child) is based on a quotation from the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, ‘The wind, the wind, the heavenly child’. Obviously, the sound installation takes place out in the open: its location is a pergola on the rooftop of the recently completed Toni Campus of the Zurich University of the Arts. Thirteen small loudspeakers are attached to the steel construction, embracing the designated listening area from all sides and at varying heights. Three of them are freely suspended, allowing them to move and turn a bit. Wind is sound on its own, yet it carries other sounds within which keep changing with distance and wind intensity. Overlapping glissandi of wind-borne howling cause microtonal beats. Voices of muezzins appear, temporarily occupying the air of a widely minaret-free country. Some sounds hint at the surrounding soundscape, such as sirens, rain, cooing pigeons, and even a passing herd of goats. Others include acoustic quotations (music box melodies, two short recitals of texts by Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli) and ‘traditional’ musical sounds such as piano arpeggios and inverted tones, and bowed singing bowls. This smorgasbord of sounds opens up a quiet listening space which may evoke a variety of associations and experiences, depending on weather conditions, time of the day, and focus of the respective visitors.

Das himmlische Kind

Site-specific Sound Installation, 2015
Zurich University of the Arts - Toni Campus (rooftop), Zurich
February 19th - 28th, 2015

Commissioned by the Zurich University of the Arts - ICST
Further support by the Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria




Das himmlische Kind is featured in
Gal's book & DVD video Zwischenbrücken, edition spce | Gromoga, Austria 2015.









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