“What do we actually hear of the landscape in which we live? The drone of cars, revving scooters, and rumbling trams. Shop doorbells, church bells, ringtones, and singing birds. Heels tapping on the pavement, children’s voices in the school, and cows in the countryside… We hear them, but rarely listen.”

Marres, House for Contemporary Culture in Maastricht opens a world of sound in locations all over the city.

Marres

The main location for Undertones is the Marres House for Contemporary Culture, with work from Sarah van Sonsbeeck, Lyndsey Housden, a great audio installation by Haroon Mirza, Joseph Beuys, Chaim van Luit, Fabian de Kloe, Nishiko, Paul Devens, Espen Sommer Eide and Rutger Zuydervelt.

The first installation is an interactive one by Lyndsey Housden.

Usually Joseph Beuys leaves me cold, but I smiled all the way through this one.

Dot Pitch 2 by Paul Devens was hard to fathom.

Haroon Mirza’s audioroom was impressively intense.

Intro In Situ

The Beaters by Thomas Rutgers and Jitske Blom had me hypnotized.

Sint Servaasbasiliek

A wonderful modern gregorian soundscape by Graindelavoix really fits the location. It was a real shame the room was full of church tourists with flipflops rustling their plastic bags, chatting incessantly.

Minderbroedersberg

This was the absolute star location of the festival. A very eerie installation in a perfectly suitable environment.

Kazematten Waldeckpark

Another meticulously justified soundscape by Mark Bain. Learned a lot about the location and was surprised to hear about the strong link to this month’s news.

Sint Pietersberg

Undertones is definitely worth the trip. All locations are quite close to each other, but opening at noon and closing at 17.00. It’s probably impossible to visit all of them in one day. If you make the trip, don’t miss Espen Sommer Eide’s work in the Minderbroedersberg.

where | Maastricht
what | Undertones
who | Sarah van Sonsbeeck | Lyndsey Housden | Haroon Mirza | Joseph Beuys | Chaim van Luit | Fabian de Kloe | Nishiko | Paul Devens | Espen Sommer Eide | Rutger Zuydervelt | Jitske Blom | Thomas Rutgers | Björn Schmelzer | Mark Bain | Kaffe Matthews
credits | videos by Ali Marijtje Hinke Haselhoef