1997
Sound Work for the Stairway of the Musée d'Art Contemporian, Lyon, 1997
The site: The space, six by eight meters encloses a stairway twenty meters high.
Stairways in general are interesting to me as they offer a three dimensional pathway for listeners through a sound work. This particular staircase built within an existing facade by architect Renzo Piano is exceptional in its feeling of open passage.
I conceive and construct a work's sound only on site after its physical components have been installed. The realization of a work proceeds in two phases. First, the design, off-site construction and installation of the work's physical components -- electronics, sound sources and cabling -- and then the conception of the work: the construction of the work's sound by ear in the site itself after everything is in place.
Max Neuhaus