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.
