Bill Fontana. SILENT ECHOES: DACHSTEIN

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 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 will be transmitted to various locations in Europe and echo there.

A project of the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 in cooperation with IRCAM, Centre Pompidou, Upper Austria, KulturEXPO Anton Bruckner 2024, Ars Electronica Festival, Goiserer Musiktage, Kunstradio Ö1, MuseumsQuartier Wien, Kunsthaus Graz

Thanks to: OÖ Seilbahnholding GmbH, Planai-Hochwurzen-Bahnen GmbH