As a strong statement on climate change and cultural fragility, Fontana brings the haunting bell sounds of Notre Dame to the melting ice caves of the Dachstein.
In 2019, Notre Dame, the ‘soul of Paris’ and a symbol of European culture, is burning. The bells are spared, but fall silent for years. They quietly ‘listen’ to the hustle and bustle of the construction site, the city and the world.
The American sound artist Bill Fontana makes the constant swinging of the silent bells audible with the help of vibration sensors.
As an impressive artistic statement on climate change and the fragility of culture, he transfers the haunting sounds to the ice caves of the Dachstein and lets them resound in dialogue with the sounds of the melting glacier.
This site-specific duet forms the basis for a ‘sound bridge’ that is transmitted to various locations in Europe and echoes there. The BIX media façade and the foyer in the Kunsthaus Graz are integrated into the networking project and visually reinforce the sound experience. Curator Wolfgang Schlag describes Bill Fontana's ‘Silent Echoes’ as ‘a powerful statement on climate change and cultural fragility.’
In cooperation with © Capital of Culture Bad Ischl - Salzkammergut 2024 GmbH
Further information on the project can be found here:
https://www.salzkammergut-2024.at/projekte/silent-echoes-dachstein/
