Sound installation: Threatened soundscapes

Robin Minard, sound artist and composer from Canada, shows his sound installation »Bedrohte Klanglandschaften« (»Threatened Soundscapes«) during Beethovenfest. Here he introduces his work.

The sound installation »Threatened Soundscapes« takes up elements of the earlier installation »Silent Music« and expands them to include natural soundscapes and animal sounds recorded primarily in South America, Australia and Germany – including the Bonn region. The new work, created for the Beethovenfest 2023, is installed in a container on the square in front of the Festival Centre Kreuzkirche.

The installation combines sounds played through a multi-channel sound system with soft, delicate sounds coming from hundreds of small »piezo« speakers. These speakers are installed inside the container on the walls and windows of the room. Together with the cables attached to them, the speakers form plant-like structures.

The sounds of the installation are quiet and unobtrusive: sounds of water, wind, insects, distant birds, frogs, as well as composed soundscapes based on field recordings of animals and natural environments. The projected sounds gently fill the installation site with acoustic life. The work creates an immersive and contemplative environment that allows passersby to listen into distant, imaginary or forgotten soundscapes, as well as sounds and soundscapes that may soon cease to exist.

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Robin Minard is a sound artist and composer from Canada. From 1997 to 2021, he was professor of electroacoustic composition and sound art at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and Bauhaus University in Weimar. His works, which include electroacoustic compositions, sound installations, sound sculptures, and radio art productions, have been presented worldwide at festivals, museums, radio, and in public spaces. The Beethoven Foundation Bonn appointed him Bonn City Sound Artist in 2022.

1.9.–24.9.2023, open daily 11:00–19:00

Square in front of the Festival Centre Kreuzkirche
An d. Evangelischen Kirche, 53113 Bonn

Free entry

Curation and production: Carsten Seiffarth
Technical direction: Ludger Hennig
Technical installation: Robert Rehnig, Daniel Schulz
Audio programming: Tim Helbig