The video-sound-space installation created a romantic world of light and sound in the foyer of the office building at Eschersheimer Landstraße 50–54, bringing the beauty and diversity of nature into the city. The installation interactively transported viewers into fantastical landscapes and created an exciting dialogue between architecture, nature, and art.
A soundscape composed especially for the video turned the installation into a complete audiovisual experience. Stock Werk met the two artists together with Florian Trüstedt, project manager for the art installation by holger meyer architektur, for a conversation about inspiration, collaboration, and the right setting for their art.
The newly designed foyer provides the ideal setting for the two artists' video-sound-space installation. The structure of the acoustic slats modulates the transition from the street space to the garden behind the lobby. The rhythm of the slats intensifies towards the street. Towards the garden, the spaces between the slats become increasingly green. This is an idea that the architects developed specifically for and from this space and combined with video and sound art.
Since the digital world lacks authenticity and people are increasingly wary of digitalization, modern city dwellers long for something stable and familiar. By digitally processing motifs from nature and accompanying them with digitally reproduced natural sound sequences, the artists fractalize nature and lead the viewer back to a place of harmony and symmetry.
The two Darmstadt-based artists have been working together for five years. They met at an art fair where Brigitte Satori Constantinescu's work was also on display. "It's not often that you meet someone you click with right from the start," Quis recalls of her first encounter with Satori Constantinescu. Shortly afterwards, they embarked on their first joint project. "I had long wanted to compose sounds for art videos, and Brigitte was looking for sounds for her videos – so it all fit together perfectly."
Brigitte Satori Constantinescu emphasizes: "Actually, we both work autonomously—an exchange on a joint project only takes place at the beginning. What unites us here is a similar view of what we set out to do." Inspiration from different fields plays just as important a role as perception on both sides. It all comes down to empathy, Quis confirms. Much of it remains in the emotional or intuitive realm. This became particularly clear in the collaboration with Florian Trüstedt, according to Satori Constantinescu. "Image, sound, tone, music—that's one thing. But then there's the presentation. That requires a corresponding amount of empathy, but also knowledge of how spaces work."
It is amazing how art and architecture inspire each other, emphasizes Florian Trüstedt, who is also responsible for the art project as project manager at holger meyer architektur.
"I saw the foyer here on Eschersheimer Landstraße and immediately thought of a work by Brigitte Satori Constantinescu. At that moment, I knew that the work had to be shown in this space." Neither the space was adapted to the artwork nor the artwork to the space – only a slight adjustment was necessary to bring the space, moving image, and sound together.
Depending on the possibilities of the presentation, the artworks of the two artists unfold differently. In "Zwischen Welten G 55," image, space, and sound work together to create a total experience.
Art that seeks out space and is not confined to museums, galleries, or collections offers greater expressive possibilities for artists, but also for architects. What's more, these works involve the viewer in their artistic process. The distance between object and subject is eliminated, allowing us to experience a multi-layered work. "The viewer is our projection surface for image, sound, and space," Satori-Constantinescu, Quis, and Trüstedt agree.
Brigitte Satori Constantinescu works with photomontage, video, and installation. Her work focuses on nature and humanity. Numerous exhibitions in Germany and abroad.
Edith Quis is a freelance musician and composer who studied music in Darmstadt, Würzburg, and Cologne, focusing on contemporary music. She has taken master classes in Germany and abroad.
Since 2014, Edith Quis and Brigitte Satori Constantinescu have been collaborating on audiovisual artworks with successful premieres.
Florian Trüstedt works as an architect at holger meyer architektur. The art lover visited one of the artists' early installations in Darmstadt, where he met them both. This was followed by initial collaborations for the Night of Churches in Wiesbaden in 2017 and the Autumn Salon in Darmstadt in 2019.
