Abyss

A winding tunnel in Sculpturepark Vijversburg, The Netherlands, is the temporary home for the subterranean sound installation Abyss. A loudspeaker-system which is located at the center of the 44 meter long tunnel replays recordings of the parks wildlife, mainly songbirds, water-fowl and chickens. As visitors enter the tunnel, the recordings are being gradually slowed down, which also lowers their pitch. The sounds reach an almost infrasonic level at the heart of the tunnel to which no light penetrates from the outside. As visitors exit the tunnel towards the daylight, the sounds speed up again until they have reached their normal pace. The work is an acoustic translation of the existing visual passage, from light to darkness to light. It transforms the parks existing soundscape into one with seemingly sub-marine qualities: A world in slow motion.

2008 | PE-piping, PIR-sensors, relays, mp3-players, speakers, sub-woofer | 44m commissioned by Stichting Beeldenpark Vijversburg

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