Asking a person whether they would rather be deaf or blind if they had to decide, most people instantly reply they could never imagine not being able to see. The capability of vision seems to be the most outstanding sense organ we own, while substantially our perception is actually shaped by an interplay of various sensory stimulations: What we see and notice physically also defines the way we perceive acoustic stimuli.

Space and Sound – filtered By Lukas Kühne

Lukas Kühne is an artist based in Berlin, Germany and Montevideo, Uruguay, where he also teaches experimental form and sound at the University of the Republic. His works have been exhibited in Finland, Germany, Canada and Uruguay.
Driven by the fusion of space and sound, Lukas Kühne’s recent work evolves all around visualizing sound and making space audible to humans. The first of Kühne’s geometric sound sculptures has been completed in Tallin, Estonia in 2011, the second one, Tvisöngur, can be admired/visited in eastern Iceland.

Sound of Iceland

Located in the hills above the town of Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland, the artist built a sculpture that makes this quiet area not only a place that lets you listen to the sound of silence, but also to the sound of Iceland. The ‚singing concrete’ sculpture consists of five round shaped domes in different heights (2-4m) and has been moulded from concrete by Kühne and his team in 2012. Not only does it blend in with the contours of icelandic nature in a very aesthetic way - it also preserves the cultural essence of an ancient tradition. Each one of the domes resonates one specific tone of the Icelandic five tone harmony which has found use in the polyphonic folk duets called „Tvisöngur“ and is also referred to as hemitonic pentatonic (e.g.: e,f,a,h,c).

The installation aims to conserve this approximately 2000 years old musical tradition but also invites you to discover and experiment with vision and acoustics, voices and sounds and therefore creates a special multisensual experience. Tvisöngur is open to the public and fully accessible.

Interested in discovering what a Tvisöngur melody sounds like?
Listen to Lukas Kühne’s favorite typical song here: Spotify