Behind the Scenes
What does it sound like when someone hears music for the first time after years of silence? How does it feel when new technologies make the world of sound clearer and more differentiated than ever before? The audiovisual art video titled KLANGLICHT – sound of light addresses these questions. This hand-animated video with approximately 2,500 individual images is based on an artistic idea by Jenny Blum, an audiologist at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University Medical Center Göttingen.
From the idea to the pen, through choreography to the Sound of Light
The specially composed music piece begins with an explosion of initially fragmented sounds, rhythms, and distorted speech passages, symbolizing the regaining of hearing through an eCI. As the piece progresses, these sounds transition into a much clearer and more emotional musical section, allowing listeners to experience a completely new sensory world. This is intended to represent the possibilities of “hearing with light” through the oCI, which is currently being developed in Göttingen. Combined with an animation of pulsating light forms, flowing colors, and rhythmic dance interludes, the music comes to life. The impression is created that music and speech are not only audible but also visible.
The video was directed by award-winning video artist Boris Seewald, with internationally renowned composer Ralf Hildenbeutel responsible for the music. Together, they created a work that combines research, technology, and emotion in an intense visual and auditory experience.
Composer Ralf Hildenbeutel, Jenny Blum, audiologist at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Prof. Dr. Tobias Moser, Director of the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience at UMG, and video artist Boris Seewald (from left to right).
