2000
Bibliography / Publications / 2000 - TIME PIECE by Max Neuhaus (A proposal for the city of Bern)
In January 2000, the Kunsthalle Bern inaugurated a major retrospective of Max Neuhaus’s oeuvre, coinciding with the installation of his permanent Time Piece for the city of Bern.
It served as a comprehensive review of his career, featuring his "Place Works" and "Moment Works," alongside his signature drawings.
The show included his elegant pencil drawings, which Neuhaus used as a primary method for documenting his site-specific, invisible sound installations.
The retrospective highlighted Neuhaus's shift from "performance" (as a virtuoso percussionist) to "perception," where sound is used to define a physical space rather than a temporal event.
The exhibition accompanied the inauguration of a permanent version of his Time Piece concept.
Unlike his 24-hour continuous works (like Times Square), the Bern Time Piece is a "Moment Work". It functions by gradually increasing a subtle, unnoticeable sound over a five-minute period. On the hour and half-hour, the sound stops abruptly.
The work is only "heard" when it disappears, leaving the listener with a heightened perception of the natural environment in its wake—a state Neuhaus described as a "clearing" or an "aural afterimage".
A temporary version was first demonstrated at the Kunsthalle in 1989 before the permanent realization in 2000.