EXPEDITION SONAR

Karin Fisslthaler & Richard Eigner
LENTOS Art Museum Linz (AT), 27.08.2010 – 12.09.2010

The musicians Karin Fisslthaler and Richard Eigner set out on an expedition through the entire Lentos architecture – interior and exterior – to investigate the specific architectural sonic image of the museum.Using multiple sound installations and acoustic interventions, the results are made audible in the most diverse locations.
Every architecture produces a sonic image of its own, which draws from manifold sources, permanently changes and is very differently received – thus resulting in a specific ​“sound signature”. Discovering this signature and ​“listening” to it in an artistic interpretation is the motivation, starting point and basic idea for the acoustic survey of Lentos. Train stations can be recognized by the noise of trains, the buzzing of crowds of people, announcements sounding through the PA systems; schools by the noise of children, the bell, squeaking sounds in the gym. The sonic spectrums can be attributed and learned. But what is the sound of a museum? It is usually nothing specific: the murmuring of visitors, the sound from media or acoustic works is not something that can be unequivocally attributed. This sound has been discovered in the course of an expedition through the house – it reverberates behind the scenes in every corner. The machine museum burbles, stomps, whirs or booms.

A project from the series Raum Lentos.
Curator: Magnus Hofmüller