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Have you ever wondered what glaciers sound like?

moods02-22-20231 min. read

There's a new strange object underneath the roaring traffic of the Hardbrücke. It crackles, cracks and rustles - Quiet, reduced and inconspicuous, Ramon Landolt's sound installation "Encounter Iced Sound" is both a political statement and a declaration of love.

"Glacial lakes look as if time has stood still, but under water you can hear all the melting processes, you can hear the ice breaking away or how stones come loose and fall down in the water." This is how Ramon Landolt reports on his expeditions to the remote heights of the Zinal, Morteratsch or Rhone glaciers. Over a period of two and a half years, he collected hours of recordings of the white giants using hydrophones and contact microphones during numerous expeditions.The musician's goal is to use these field recordings to draw attention to the ever-faster shrinking of the glaciers and, to this end, has placed a sound installation on the Schiffbauplatz together with architects of Rotative Studio.As Rotative Studio explains: "The spatial expression of the pavilion reflects, and makes experienceable, that what we can not see, and in this case, hear; the story of unseen and unheard, fragile, landscapes, that are slowly, gradually, but also ever faster, changing, as a result of our own, human, action(s), which has major consequences for our planet."
What initially ran as an hourly loop over the loudspeakers is now an all-day sound world that reacts to external sounds with a built-in microphone and corresponding application, thus creating unique interactions with the urban atmosphere. In turn, the wooden space serves as a bridge to the fascinating, as well as vulnerable, glacial world that nowhere seems so far from us as in the city amidst tall office buildings.The installation is free to walk through until March 6, 2023.

Additional performances are taking place on the following dates:

  • Carte Blanche

    Ramon Landolt

    • Encounter Iced Sound - Klanginstallation & Performances Schiffbauplatz

      Experimental
    More

  • Carte Blanche

    Ramon Landolt

    • Encounter Iced Sound - Klanginstallation & Performances Schiffbauplatz

      Experimental
    More

  • Carte Blanche

    Ramon Landolt

    • Encounter Iced Sound - Klanginstallation & Performances Schiffbauplatz

      Experimental
    More