Listening Site
During one of my first visits to Völksen I noticed a special place in the adjacent park. At the edge of the hill, above a sloping terrain, I suddenly and surprisingly found myself in a very artificial listening situation. The noise of the traffic from a federal road resounded up to me and mixed with all the sounds of nature existing at that moment and place. The acoustic situation was so contradictory and at the same time complementary that I began to listen to all events at once, a musicalized situation.
The characteristic of road traffic, like an acoustic addition of all road users audible at a given moment, changed here into a long drawn-out noise. Simultaneously static from one direction, similar to a single centred tone and also disintegrating into singular occurrences and striving in several directions.
In the simultaneity of the audible sequences, the sounds of nature in my vicinity seemed to musically accentuate this noise coming from further away, like a kind of random interplay. My immediate reception was that of a piece of music.
The intention was to create this real moment, existing only for the time listening. The idea of a fixed place in the sense of a user sculpture, i.e. an offer where a surprisingly diverse moment of density can be experienced with the slightest activity. The obvious solution was to design a seating area, perhaps as a bench, for several people, which makes this possible:
a place in the acoustic space of distant and near sounds of civilisation and nature, which are audibly condensed by the sculpture. And at the same time a permanent composition, very close and starting from inside the wall of the body.
Sitting and listening, the different time sequences of coincidence and composition can be experienced within a simultaneous acoustic sound space.
Permanente Klangskulptur für eine Parklandschaft, Hermannshof, Völksen 2009
Wall made of perforated stainless steel sheets and lamella sheets; integrated speakers; 12-channel composition; electronical equipment; bench.