Oliver Beer, Resonance Project: The Cave, 2024, HD 8-screen immersive video and sound installation
Since 2007, composer and multidisciplinary artist Oliver Beer has explored acoustic resonance through The Resonance Project. This series integrates voice, body, and architecture in compositions designed to reveal and amplify the natural resonant frequencies of diverse locations, from a hammam in Istanbul to the Centre Pompidou’s tubular walkways.
Beer was granted access to the Paleolithic caves of Dordogne, known for some of humanity’s earliest artworks. In these ancient spaces, he discovered a connection between the cave paintings and the site's acoustics. This discovery inspired Resonance Project: The Cave, a video opera featuring eight performers: Jean-Christophe Brizard, eee gee, Mélissa Laveaux, Mo’Ju, Hamed Sinno, Michiko Takahashi, Rufus Wainwright, and Woodkid.
Over two years, Beer led each performer to the cave’s acoustic sweet spots to sing their earliest musical memory. The cave acts as a natural tuning fork, amplifying and transforming their voices to harmonize with its unique tonalities. The resulting eight-screen installation offers a rare, immersive experience, inviting viewers to experience the cave's unique acoustic environment and a shared musical heritage that transcends time and culture.
In a tunnel beneath the exhibition space, Beer presents his Resonance Paintings, created by moving pigment with sound waves, without any direct contact with the canvas. These paintings, shaped by the vibrations of the singers’ voices, reveal abstract forms that normally remain invisible. The paintings show a transition from deep earths to transcendental colour, echoing the musical journey experienced in the cave .
“It’s hard to describe the sensation of this resonant sound. It is immense and immersive, sourceless and strange, as if it comes from the walls themselves. When you sing the right note, the whole space resonates, and you are literally submerged in the voice of the cave”
- Oliver Beer
Performers : Jean-Christophe Brizard, eee gee, Mélissa Laveaux, Mo’Ju, Hamed Sinno, Michiko Takahashi, Rufus Wainwright, Woodkid.
Co-production Oliver Beer et Anna Lena Films / Florence Cohen Avec le soutien de Fluxus Art Projects
With the support of Fluxus Art Projects.
With the support of Mondes Nouveaux and the Ministère de la Culture, Centre des monuments nationaux, Fondation des Artistes, French Embassy in Australia and Almine Rech.
