ADOZEN
2022
First Prize in the
Art in Public Spaces Competition
Rhine bank Worms
Light and sound installation
photos: Jonas Richter
Prolog:
The nineteenth adventure of the Nibelungenlied not only tells how the Nibelungen hoard came to Worms, but also describes the considerable dimensions of the treasure:
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Now you may hear wonders about the treasure:
Twelve carts could hardly carry him from there
In four days and nights from the shaft of the mountain
even three times a day they set out.
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It was also nothing but rock and gold.
And if the whole world had been bought with this gold,
It doesn‘t want to reduce its value by a single mark.
It was not without reason that Hagen coveted this.
In the immediate vicinity of the sculpture of Hagen von Tronje from 1906, a mast with horn loudspeakers is erected directly on the banks of the Rhine, with a view of the Nibelungen Bridge.
On the hour you can hear a heavy object falling into the water. The sound can be heard once at 01:00 / 13:00, similar to the chiming of a bell. With every hour until 12.00 / 24.00 the number of splashes increases up to a dozen.
At the same time as the acoustic impact, the golden-yellow image of a tally appears on the water surface, visible from afar: here the number of hours and the number of carts can be experienced visually. Similar to Hagen‘s splash, the tally increases from one to twelve.
The „image“ on the flowing Rhine is always in motion, vague and intangible – like the Nibelungen treasure. In addition, the installation changes every hour. As the sound fades away, the reflection of the light image on the water remains visible.