Edwin van der Heide, one of the most renowned media artists in the Netherlands, presents “The Speed of Sound” and “Sound Modulated Light”, two installations that are based on the idea of dynamic audio-visual processes. In “The Speed of Sound”, van der Heide takes on a unique feature of the subterranean brick edifice: sounds that are emitted in one direction of the round architecture continue to be transmitted in a circular fashion.

The time it takes for a sound to orbit a ring varies between 0.1 und 0.3 seconds. Microphones in the room record the emitted sounds, filter them through an audio-interface and project them back into the room. Connected dynamically with one another, complex forms of sound movements cross the room, offering the visitor variable spatial-acoustic perspectives by opening the continuity of the strictly symmetric architecture.

Parallel to this, the “Sound Modulated Light” sound-light installation transforms the external ring of the Large Water Reservoir with its 34 chambers into an accessible light and sound sequence. In doing so, the light intensity is modulated by sound. Incandescent lamps flicker at a frequency of 50 Hz – the frequency of the mains supply, which is invisible to the human eye. This oscillation of electricity can be reproduced acoustically in the form of sound. By exploiting gentle changes in the electrical current, van der Heide composes a dynamic sound-light field that visitors can navigate with special receptors.