Rainer Gottemeier :
Soul Wash

In cooperation with the Donaufestival 2004, Sammlung Essl, Musik Aktuell, SKE Fonds/austro mechana

The water as a mirror of the sky and as a metaphor for the human soul. With this concept Rainer Gottemeier installed a large number of neon tubes and signal light buoys in a side-channel of the Danube near the old dockyard in Korneuburg. The elements of wind and water kept the lights in continual rhythmic movement, which was emphasised visually by the waxing and waning of the light intensity. Invisible natural forces became appreciable to the human eye, and were intended to provide cause for contemplation. The result was a complete organism of colour, movement and light accompanied and taken further by the sound artist Karlheinz Essl's acoustic installation. Using several speakers mounted on the cargo crane and along the dockside Karlheinz Essl constructed an acoustic space over the visitors' heads, the basic element of which was a bell's chime. A specially programmed computer application created a range of acoustic aggregates for the basic tone that were continually combined in different ways so that the different overlaps generated varied and unpredictable composite sounds were created.
(Katrina Petter)