Akustikon - World of Hearing
Press Conference
Friday, 26 June 2009
The premiere of Linz09’s AKUSTIKON opens up a world of hearing.
The opening of the AKUSTIKON on Sunday, June 28, 2009 is the next highlight to emerge from the Acoustic City project, Linz09’s most important thematic foray into the world of sound, noise and auditory phenomena. “With the AKUSTIKON, we want to endow Linz and Upper Austria with a socially relevant locus dedicated to hearing that will endure beyond the Capital of Culture year,” explained Linz09 Musical Director Peter Androsch, the man who conceived the design for the facility at Pfarrgasse 13. “In this sense, the AKUSTIKON embodies the advocacy of conscious hearing.”
Here, in a 300-m2 space located in the former premises of the local sports authority near City Hall, Linz09 has set up a small acoustic universe full of fascinating content. Featuring barrier-free access, Gerold Zeidler’s spatial-visual design for the AKUSTIKON includes three presentation spaces, a box office area and a salon encompassing a small but well-stocked library. The salon can serve as a spot for socializing and an event venue. Corresponding to the museum shop in other facilities is the AKUSTIKON’s Memorabilion, where visitors can purchase unusual acoustic souvenirs (noise-making olives, for instance).
The way to get there is virtually impossible to miss. From the two squares nearby, Hauptplatz and Pfarrplatz, oversized ear trumpets lead directly to the AKUSTIKON. On one hand, they give the facility a high-profile presence in downtown Linz; on the other hand, they foster the audibility of the city in the AKUSTIKON itself, in that the funnels capture the urban soundscape and deliver it to Auditons, listening stations for urban eavesdropping.
The AKUSTIKON’s centerpieces are Polyphone I and II designed by Peter Androsch in cooperation with technician Michael Wieser. Resembling large pharmacist’s cupboards, the two Polyphones are masterpieces of the cabinetmaker’s art combined with leading-edge sound technology. Every one of the hundreds of drawers stores its own individual sound, which comes to life when the drawer is opened.
AKUSTIKON visitors can partake of auditory experiences that are as fascinating as they are significant—some created by Linz sound designer Wolfgang Dorninger—on a total of seven Auditons. “Pursuant to fundamental considerations, all of them are freely audible—that is to say, without headphones,” noted AKUSTIKON Technical Director Horst Spannlang. One is an excursion into the world of perception of someone who is hard of hearing, and lets installation users experience the effects of different stages of hearing impairment. Another is an invitation to experiment with acoustic illusion. Three stations are dedicated to the complex interactions of sound with spaces of different shapes and made of different materials—like in a hall of mirrors, installation visitors can try out all sorts of interesting effects. And finally, anyone who has had the oppressive experience of a stay in the AKUSTIKON’s totally sound-deadened room gains a new appreciation for the meaning of the phrase “Sound is life!”
“Acoustics as a scientific discipline is a pretty dry-as-dust pursuit,” stated Claudia Hutterer, the woman in charge of the AKUSTIKON’s tours and educational program. “But because visitors can experience everything directly without formulas and calculations, AKUSTIKON is a great place for young people to enjoy entertaining and educational encounters with hearing and its physical, neurological and biological aspects.” A four-person crew is on hand to conduct tours. There’s also a special educational program for school classes.
Intensive work on the AKUSTIKON’s future is already going on behind the scenes. Peter Androsch: “The AKUSTIKON will provide the basis for Acoustic City 2010 and activities in the following years. At present, we’re developing an interdisciplinary course of study in acoustics that’s designed to cover the entire hearing-related spectrum.” Soon, the AKUSTIKON will also be functioning as an acoustic service provider at the interface of architecture, construction methods and acoustics, and as a scientific research facility investigating the nexus of hearing and society.
The AKUSTIKON has already attracted one prominent patron. Star conductor Franz Welser-Möst has called it “undoubtedly the only facility in Austria, or even the whole of Europe, that approaches acoustics as a subject of research, development and educational outreach in a sociopolitical context” and one that is thus “an investment in the future.”
www.linz09.at/akustikon
www.akustikon.at
