The fluid movements of a river, made up of a multitude of different ways of flowing, are transformed into the acoustic interplay of voices bundled in a dynamic stream of language, which in turn is played in the attic of a baroque church. The steam consists of conversations, statements and observations revolving around the moving, constantly changing water surface of a river that responds to all kinds of external influences. A researcher into currents and four actors talk about the water’s flow movements, its permanent, unstoppable motion, its meandering; of how the river reacts to resistances, how it behaves in relation to its banks; of points of contact, eddies; of how the water surface relates to the cosmos and reflects it, and so on. Voices rise and fall and make the entire room vibrate. A choir of four different voices is heard from above at all times: they recite a list of verbs describing all of the river’s different actions. A corresponding video piece features a young man standing behind a closed window; he is visibly moved.
der Fluss fliesst, 2018, OÖ Kulturquartier, Linz, Austria
48 chanel sound installation and video
24 loudspeakers, 18 exciters, 4 body shakers, 3 subwoofers, multichannelsystems, computers, flat screen monitor.
Speakers: Helgard Zeh, Nelly Politt, Lea Zehaf, Vincent Lang, Rainer Ewerrien
Sound editing: Tamara Grcic, Raphael Languillat
Sound engineer: Felix Dreher