The two antennas of the extraterrestrial visitor are six-metre-long chime rods.
At their upper end there is a bronze weight – at the lower end, in the head of the bell-shaped bronze body, they are clamped in a solid stainless steel block. A person can stand and listen under this bell body: when the wind causes the chimes to vibrate at the top and they collide, the sound envelops the listener.
‘This work contains a clue to everyone's destiny. Because whoever is inside the figure cannot see when the chimes will strike. The essence of the installation is the quiet or restless waiting in the enclosed space."
The wind determines the random sound
The wind determines when the metal bars randomly touch. Paul Fuchs has made this randomness even more unpredictable: the bronze weights welded on at the top are slightly different, as are the lengths of the bars. This causes different vibrations in the wind and influences the pace of the touches. When the rods will meet – who knows? And just as nobody can know what fate has in store for you next, down in the capsule the amplified sound also reaches the ears of visitors unexpectedly. The whole sculpture is built in such a way that the vibrational energy remains in the system for a long time and the sound triggered by the wind resonates for a long time.
A garden for sound
Paul Fuchs developed this sculpture in the early 2000s and built it in collaboration with his son, the metal artist David Fuchs. For many years, the sculpture was an important exhibit at the Giardino dei Suoni – the sculpture park of Paul and Gaby Fuchs in Tuscany. The overhauled sculpture was brought from there to Toggenburg for a ‘visit from an extraterrestrial’ in 2024.
About the artist
Paul Fuchs was born in Munich, but he has long since been living and working in Tuscany, surrounded by the sound of his artworks, together with his partner Gaby Beisiegel-Fuchs. ‘My life for sound began when I became a blacksmith,’ says Paul Fuchs about himself. “I forged and riveted and forged again and at some point I realised: no matter what you pick up, everything is sound. Every activity. That fascinated me.” And so he dedicated his life to building instruments and sound sculptures. www.paulfuchs.com/curriculum/
paulfuchs.com ↗
