HYDRO LOGICAL at Ses12Naus

22.06.2024 - 15.09.2024

Paul Hauptmeier and Martin Recker are composers working in the fields of composition, sound, and multimedia art. Since more than fifteen years they have been working together as an artist duo named Hauptmeier | Recker. The duo is engaged in diverse domains, spanning opera, live electronic performance, radio art, electroacoustic music, and site-specific installation. They are co-founders and board members of ZiMMT – Center for Immersive Media Art, Music and Technology (Germany). For ZiMMT, they curate events and conduct research in the field of spatial audio. Since 2022, the duo teaches sound art at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art (Germany).

The German artist duo Hauptmeier|Recker presents a site-specific installation in the form of a choreography, an immersive experience of sound, light and shadow generated by water. This work results from their artists’ residency at Ses12naus where, driven by the water issues on Ibiza, they explored the feedback mechanisms between the sea and freshwater reservoirs, sound mapping diverse aquatic ecosystems as well as researching modern and historical water infrastructure on the island. Hauptmeier|Recker are experts in transforming extremely complex topics into tangible and meaningful installations. Influenced by the philosopher Timothy Morton and his concept of “hyperobjects” they make use of their refined expertise t explore the water problematic, as they have previously done with other large-scale challenges.

The duo transforms the gallery into a circular water system controlled by a specially designed control system. The experience unfolds through three spaces. A main room where the audience can playfully merge with a melody of elements generated by water. Here, a central sculpture reveals the intricacy of water systems while its transparency allows tracing the complex systems of ever-changing water. All elements — sound, water, and light — are interconnected, influencing and manipulating each other. The public can grasp (and sense) the water experience but never completely understand it. In a second room, the audience can listen privately to a recording of original water sounds of Ibiza. Here, water is objectified into a vinyl record. The third space, the outside, reveals the exhibition’s prodigious conductor: a computer-controlled water irrigation system orchestrates the water performance/choreography. 

Text by José Alarcón