In 2019, Notre-Dame, the “soul of Paris” and a symbol of European culture, burnt down. The bells are spared, but fall silent for years. They quietly “listen” to the hustle and bustle of the city and the sounds of the construction site – until they ring out again in 2024 to mark the reopening of the cathedral.
US sound artist Bill Fontana uses sensors to make the vibrations of the bells audible, transmits the sounds to the ice caves on the Dachstein and mirrors them in a duet with live-sounds of the melting glacier, an impressive artistic statement on climate change and the fragility of culture. This site-specific duet forms the basis for a “sound bridge” that will be transmitted to exhibition venues in Europe and beyond, supplemented by a video work that documents the melting of the Dachstein glacier in the same way.
The Parzival Dome in the ice caves of the Dachstein is a place that harbours an invaluable secret, as Anton Bruckner’s composition Locus iste puts it: a secret that asks us humans how we want to live with nature in the future. In addition, the Upper Austrian KulturEXPO Anton Bruckner 2024 in cooperation with the Goiserer Musiktage will award a commission to young composers on this topic. The work will be premiered as part of the European Capital of Culture 2024 at the Goiserer Musiktage on the Glasfügel in the ice cave.
