Vom Öffnen des Ortes. [Lecture]

Peter Gahn (introduction to the video installation)

Peter Gahn devotes himself to the artistic exploration of spaces, particularly those with historical or political relations, and the transformation of these experiences into instrumental, as well as electroacoustic music. During his artistic explorations, Gahn collects sounds, whether recorded, experienced, or remembered, as well as structures (and how they can be found, in, for example, architecture). These impressions are subsequently translated into electroacoustic noises and signals in order to find their acoustic equivalents. The music that is thereby created is then transformed by further processes into even more layers, which can be performed in parallel or alternatively.

In the lecture, Gahn will explain the background and origin story of the work complex »Vom Öffnen des Ortes« (»Of Opening the Space«) (2022), which was created after research and investigation of the in 1938 constructed Reformations-Gedächtnis-Kirche Nürnberg and the destroyed Nuremberg main synagogue. One focal point of the composition is made up of audio, GPS, and motion recording signals from pedestrians who walked from the gates of the city wall to the former location of the synagogue. Beyond this work, Gahn will present others such as the work complex »De-escalating Skies« (2017), which was created after research on hidden military infrastructure in the Rhineland, and one currently in progress on the historically loaded Nuremberg opera house. »Vom Öffnen des Ortes« can be experienced as a sound, video, and light installation before and after the lecture.