the video above is a 5-minute excerpt from Wechselstrom, an installation by Fabian Petignat, Jonas Vogel, and myself, which was part of Klangtaucher, Zeiträume Basel 2015. Klangtaucher aimed to transform the Rheindüker, a tunnel that goes below the Rhein and connects the infrastructures of Gross- and Kleinbasel, from a place usually closed to the public into a mysterious audiovisual experience. visitors entered a concrete building at a construction site near the Rhein and went down a 6-floor staircase, crossed the river from below and came out at the other side, encountering different performances and installations that incorporated electronic and acoustic sounds, various lightings, video projections, and other scenographic means.

Wechselstrom was built in a shaft encompassing the 4 lower floors of the Rheindüker, surrounding the big long pipes that run through it. during the event, Wechselstrom was constantly active, co-existing with other works by other scenographers and composers and contributing to the abnormal and insecure mood of the space. in addition, at certain points, predefined and precisely coordinated, it was featured alone, outbursting loudly and brightly, using the full force of its sound-producing mechanism: 2 giant self-made subwoofers. the video above documents such a moment, but from a point of view that none of the visitors could have seen. while they could take a look at (and in) the shaft from the individual floors, until now, it was impossible to see the whole thing top to bottom.

the shaft on a regular day

the shaft during the event

to read more about how we worked on Wechselstrom and how it was constructed, click here (in German, by Fabian Petignat). to read more about the sounds of Wechselstrom and how it was animated, click here. to read more about the event in general, click here (in German, by Jenny Berg) and here (in German, edited by Andreas Wenger).