International
artists address
the transformation
of the
Emscher Valley

<< 2008

project idea

The "FlussKlang:RiverSound" project is part of the major ecological construction project for conversion of the Emscher River. Its aim is to use artistic productivity to make the processes and results of the construction work audible and visible. International sound artists, composers, radio playwrights and sound designers are invited to devote their artistic attention to the transformation of the Emscher Valley. In cooperation with artists from the area, they are to develop ideas, collect sound material and implement audio projects.

FlussKlang:RiverSound is a platform for international sound art that facilitates studio productions and media releases, live elements from the creative process and exchanges with other forms of art and expression (film, dance and performance). The first four productions emerged as early as 2008: Together with the well-known sound artists Jon Rose (Australia) and Michael Rodach (Germany), Karl-Heinz Blomann developed four productions which were broadcast by the WDR 3 Acoustic Art Studio in July and August 2008.

In 2010, "FlussKlang:RiverSound" is to embark on its second phase: Once again, four productions are to be created, with Karl-Heinz Blomann completing two projects with each of the visiting artists Gilles Aubry (Switzerland) and Thomas Gerwin (Germany). The artists involved already visited the area in December 2009 and got to know the Emscher Valley. Furthermore, film and audio recordings have already been produced at the Evinger Bach Pumping Station, at the Phoenix Lake in Dortmund, at the Emscher Water Treatment Plant, in Bottrop’s Ebel district and in the digestion tower of the former sewage plant in Herne. This material is to flow into the sound projects and will also be presented - in excerpts - in the EMSCHERplayer.

Apart from musical and sound-based offerings, the work on the current project will include numerous personal statements and extracts from interviews with residents affected by the Emscher conversion. These comments and statements will add a political dimension to the composition and reflect the social and participatory aspects of the Emscher conversion. Compaction, displacement, transformation and intervention by sound design techniques and media alienation are to create new interpretations of perception and opinion.

FlussKlang:RiverSound 2010 is sponsored by the Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Cultural Office of Dortmund and the water company Emschergenossenschaft.