Step into a distinctive auditory world with 'The Instrument of Troubled Dreams' by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. This site-specific installation at the Oude Kerk transformed the space through a modified Mellotron and 28 speakers. Visitors actively engaged with sound, spoken word, and music, creating a unique cinematic experience within the church's ancient walls.
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This exhibition featured an immersive sound installation by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, composed within the Oude Kerk. Visitors interacted with a modified Mellotron, a precursor to samplers, which used 28 speakers to create a surround sound experience, weaving spoken word, music, and ambient sounds into the historic space.
The Instrument of Troubled Dreams was an installation by artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, created for and within the Oude Kerk. Positioned in the church's high choir, the work enveloped visitors in sound, blurring the lines between the seven centuries of the Oude Kerk's existence and the present moment. Visitors engaged with a Mellotron, an early sampling device modified by the artists into a surround sound system with 28 speakers. This instrument was programmed with 72 keys, each triggering different sound effects, vocalizations, or musical passages. The exhibition featured a specially composed narrative for the Oude Kerk, integrating spoken word and music, including pieces by Sweelinck played on the Vater-Müller Organ and by the Sweelinck choir of the Oude Kerk community. Many of the sounds used in the installation were recorded in and around the Oude Kerk in the months preceding the opening, capturing elements like water, wind, church bells, and creaking structures. By playing the Mellotron, visitors actively shaped a cinematic environment, experiencing the church in a new way. The work explored themes of memory, personal preference, unpredictability, and the mystery of technology in creating a temporary soundtrack for the space. The Oude Kerk, a site rich in cultural history with multiple meanings as a former house of worship, city archive, and music venue, served as a canvas for this principle of user-generated meaning.
Booking is available for this exhibition. Visitors are directed to an official ticketing link for further details and purchase.
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