Nature Symphony (2022)

Solo show.

Møstings Hus, Frederiksberg, Denmark. September – November 2022.

The sound art exhibition Nature Symphony is a total installation of mechanical sound sculptures that mimic sounds from nature and create an unpredictable soundscape of movements of wind, water, plants etc. through Møstings’ high-ceilinged rooms. 

Details

For this installation, George Koutsouris has been inspired by the movements and sounds of nature. Consequently, he examines human’s relationship with the natural environment by questioning our increasing need for control in an otherwise uncontrollable world.  

With Nature Symphony, Koutsouris invites us on a journey full of contrasts. While we might think that we are listening to the trickling of water in the stream or the rustling of leaves in the wind, we see something completely different. In the sound sculptures and installations we meet constructions of wood, metal, plastic and electronics, all clearly man-made and industrial. Most of the works turn on and off automatically by mechanisms created by the artist, while others are activated interactively by the audience. 

The works have been created for Møstings, which in the 19th century was used as a summer residence, placed close to Frederiksberg’s cultivated nature. Therefore, the exhibition connects the past and the present through a poetic narrative about civilization’s view on nature. Koutsouris has carefully matched the unique sounds of each sculpture to the acoustics of the rooms. Hence, sculptures and space together form the sound of a wonderful landscape. By using low-tech mechanics to mimic nature, Koutsouris emphasizes that machines should rather be used to restore natural environments, instead of destroying them.

Reviews

Kunsten.nu by Sune Anderberg.

Politiken by Peter Michael Hornung.

Seismograf by Jeppe Rönnow.

Featured works

The solo exhibition consisted of three sound installations and nine sound sculptures, two of them interactive.  

Moving plants