Silence Gothique
In 1997 I worked on a presentation for the city of Eindhoven, where I had been asked to concentrate on the Religious Heritage of this city (see Rite 3). The project induced me to make some studies of sounds are produced in churches, with and without voices. I became inspired by the spatial and meditative power of church spaces when empty. As part of the study, I made a number of sound recordings. At times when there is no religious service in progress, churches still have their own sounds, and every sound one hears, be it a bench creaking, a door, or even the sounds coming from outside, imparts a strong sense of space, and of time too, since that sound is registered throughout the enormous acoustic space. This was an aspect I sought to elaborate on in the exhibition ‘Gothic Reflections’, with the term 'Gothic' serving as a metaphoric point of departure. I wanted to see if I could engender an experience of the ultimate religious space, by superimposing sounds of a number of empty church buildings over each other. I went to France and made sound recordings lasting one hour in each of the 6 most accessible Gothic cathedrals: Chartres, Rheims, Beauvais, Laon, Rouen and Amiens. The recordings were made at times when there were no religious services, and each recording was put on a CD. The exhibition space in the City Gallery in Heerlen was set out to accommodate six audio installations, with the loudspeakers placed at equidistances of 2 meters, all in one line and facing a blank wall. Visitors could experience the composite noise as one sound, while at each separate loudspeaker they could listen to the specific sounds from each cathedral. The major binding element turned out to be the background hum of the city. A second layer was formed by the footsteps and voices of the visitors, while the sound of bells or else a squeaking access door characteristically stood out for a certain cathedral. What particularly struck me during the recordings was that in these cathedrals there was no moment of absolute silence. Because of the visitors and tourists, sounds are created which impact acoustically on the silence throughout the building. For this reason I gave the installation the somewhat ironic title of 'Gothic Silence'.
| year | 1999 |
| location | Stadsgalerij Heerlen NL |
| curator | Felix Villanueva and Ernst van Raaij |
| photography | Ruud Koek |
| further information | The installation was later played in various locations. |
| project or event | Exhibition Gothic Reflections in Stadsgalerij Heerlen |
| technical | Toine Horvers |