Bill Fontana (US) → Silent Echoes: Dachstein

19–24
  • City center
  • Sound installation

About project

Bill Fontana’s project is an urgent reminder of the fragility of the climate and cultural balance. In 2019, the Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame – the “soul of Paris”, a symbol of European culture – was on fire. The bells were spared destruction, but also silenced for many years. They listened quietly to the hustle and bustle of the city and the noises of construction work. Sound artist Bill Fontana used sensors that pick up the bells’ vibrations to translate these harmonic resonances into an audible sound. He also transported the sounds of the silent Parisian bells to the icy caves of Dachstein in Austria. There, together with the sounds of the melting glacier due to climate change, a unique duet began to emerge. The Parzival Dome in the ice caves of Dachstein is a place that is said to hold a priceless secret. In Austrian composer Anton Bruckner’s motet (a form of polyphonic music) “Locus iste” it is described as a mystery that asks us how we want to live with nature in the future. 

The site-specific sound duet forms the basis for the “Sound Bridge” project, which is being relocated, performed in new contexts and featured in a number of European and international galleries. Bill Fontana’s installation is the first format of Signal Festival’s collaboration with the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, one of the most respected new media art shows in the world.

Artist

Bill Fontana is one of the founders of sound art. His sound projects have been created since the 1970s as monumental spatial installations that reflect the sonic situations of specific sites. His projects have been realized at many of the world’s most important art events, exhibitions and public spacest, including the Venice Biennale, the Tate Modern in London, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, SF MOMA in San Francisco, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the Abu Dhabi Festival, Ars Electronica in Linz and many others. He most often refers to his work as sound sculptures that use human or natural environments as sources of musical information. The artist says of his work: "Some of my new work (called Acoustic Visions) is an exploration of the image that makes the sound and the sound that makes the image".

Location

Bill Fontana has brought the vibrations of the duet of silenced bells from the burnt cathedral of Notre Dame and the sounds of melting glaciers in Dachstein to a contemplative oasis in the middle of the Old Town — the baroque refectory of the 17th-century Dominican monastery. Although the refectory (the monks' dining hall) is no longer the scene of the Dominican debates that were at the heart of European scholarship and ethics, echoes of the spirit of the age are still there to be captured. Today, the hall is used for various meetings and concerts through the Dominikánská 8 platform, providing an aural and spiritual backdrop for Bill Fontana's installation.

Supported by

  • Partner of the installation

    Ars Electronica

  • Supported by

    Christie Digital

  • Supported by

    Dominikánská 8