Sounds of Solitude

Compared to places like São Paulo, Berlin, Teheran, Tel Aviv, Bombay, and many more, Solitude is a silent place, where not only time is a valuable resource, but also the calm atmosphere. Therefore, Solitude should not only be interpreted as a place for artistic production and labor, but rather for a place to activate the senses and a mindful thinking through practices like walking in the woods, looking out the window, sitting next to the temple, and following the daily rhythm of the place and the people.

Mapping Solitude’s daily life and its special rhythm, Tel Aviv-based musician and sound designer Yuval Shenhar recorded different soundscapes of daily life at Akademie Schloss Solitude with a microphone. While urban soundscapes are often uncontrollable, dynamic, superimposed, and in circulation, the Sounds of Solitude most likely appear isolated: the sound of the cooker hood ventilator, the squeak of the front door, the arrival and departure of the bus number 92, and so on. Combined with black-and-white images, the collected acoustic objets trouvés form the sound and image archive Sounds of Solitude.

 

The cooker hood ventilator
The telephone at Studio 20
The long corridor (first floor)
The elevator
The clock at the cafeteria
The lunch table
The coffee machine
The courtyard in autumn
The meadow beyond house 3
View toward the woods from the courtyard
The horse meadow
The bridge over the highway
A bunch of leaves from the linden tree
Hanging out at the temple Solitude at noon
Arrival of the bus number 92
Tourists in front of the castle
The main entrance
The wooden floor at the Guibal Saal
The cinema screen at the Guibal Saal
View from the Guibal Saal
The staircase
Ringing the doorbell
Opening a studio door
Closing the door
The ventilation of the bathroom

 

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The sound of the cooker hood ventilator

The ringtone of the telephone at Studio 20

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Steps in the long corridor

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The sound of the elevator

The ticker of the clock at the cafeteria

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Conversations and noises during lunch break

The sound of the coffee machine

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Steps in the courtyard

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Walking on grass

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Background noise in the courtyard

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Sound next to the horse meadow

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On the bridge over the highway

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Stepping on dry leaves

Conversations and noises at noon around the temple

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The arrival and departure of the bus number 92

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Noises of tourists in front of the castle

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The squeak of the front door

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Footfalls on the wooden floor of Guibal Saal

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Drawing the front curtains of Guibal Saal

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Closing the door at Guibal Saal

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Climbing stairs

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Ringing the doorbell of Studio 20

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Opening studio doors

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Closing the doors again

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The ventilation of the bathroom (on)

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The ventilation of the bathroom (off)

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Sound recordings by Yuval Shenhar
Images by Savyon