Sound and light installation for 15 windows by Cyrill Lim & Marcel Zaes
time-lapse video without sound
This sound and light installation was designed for the window front of the Bern University of the Arts at Papiermühlestrasse 13 on the occasion of the 2010 Bern Museum Night.
Each of the 15 windows is illuminated from the inside by a light source. The brightness of the light in each window changes over the entire duration of eight hours according to a specific structure that depends on the number of windows and the total duration.
The structure of the installation is thus determined by the building, resulting in a unique, site-specific work that can be installed on different buildings.
The seven windows in the bottom row are additionally equipped with a special loudspeaker that causes the panes to vibrate audibly. Sinusoidal vibrations are used as sound material, with a pitch progression based on the same structure that controls the light. The starting frequency, which is also the natural resonance of the window panes, is defined as the lowest pitch.
At the beginning of each two-hour period, the seven sound sources meet at this starting frequency. After one hour, the seven pitches form a fixed chord. Since each sound source develops at an individual speed from the starting frequency to the chord frequency, the result is a constantly changing polyphonic soundscape.
excerpt with sound
Concept, realisation, sound: Cyrill Lim and Marcel Zaes
Realisation light: Ruedi Steiner and Daniel Meuter, Lichtbau
Photos © Marcel Zaes & Lichtbau
Video © Stefanie Mauron
