![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lisbon-bridge.jpg\")
Bill Fontana, “Shadow Soundings”, 2017<\/p>\n Bill Fontana, “Shadow Soundings”, 2017<\/p>\n
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music is in the ear of the listener. This is not Bill Fontana\u2019s statement, but it could well have been. The North American artist \u2014 who is known for his pioneering experiments in sound art in legendary places including London\u2019s Somerset House \u2014 has a new mammoth sound project.
\nEntitled \u201cShadow Soundings\u201d and curated by Pedro Gadanho, the work was specially commissioned by Lisbon\u2019s MAAT museum, which won the LCD Best Museum Architecture of the Year prize this year. The installation is made of soundscapes and screenings taken from the neighbouring iconic 25 de Abril Bridge in Lisbon. Occupying the oval room of the museum, the work mixes live and non-live recording and footage from different corners of the suspended bridge.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lisbon.jpg\")
Bill Fontana, “Shadow Soundings”, 2017<\/p>\n
This is not the first time Fontana has worked with a bridge. In 2006 he used the Millennium Bridge for a work at London\u2019s Tate Modern, and in 2012 he used the Golden Gate Bridge as a musical instrument, with real-time views under the roadway expansion joints. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in bridges as structures within themselves,\u201d he says about the uniqueness of sounds of every bridge. \u201cThe first time I experienced the 25 de Abril Bridge was when I came to Lisbon in 2016. I was in my hotel which was just under it and I was really struck by the shadows and that’s what actually named the piece.\u201d
\nThe varied network of shadows the bridge produces turns the footage collected by the artist into perplexing images that sit between abstract and figurative. The camera has focused on various points including the river itself, directly below the bridge platform, and the red suspension mechanism. That meant that Bill Fontana had to walk along the platform, as well as up and down the whole structure. Luckily, the artist doesn\u2019t have vertigo. \u201cI\u2019d go there in the morning spend a few hours until the staff would take break and I\u2019d come back in the afternoon,\u201d he says. \u201cI was doing lots of sound and video recordings, and it\u2019s amazing how the sounds of this bridge are so distinct to the one from Golden Gate Bridge.\u201d Indeed, the bridges may look similar, but the 25 de Abril Bridge has train transit, which adds a whole new set of sounds.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lisbon2.jpg\")
Bill Fontana, “Shadow Soundings”, 2017<\/p>\n
Combining all of these elements in a single space makes for a musical and visual experience that is both calming and enervating. Sounds like passing cars have an oddly soothing effect, but are punctuated by the vibrations from the train transit. Most of the images and sounds are meticulously choreographed, but one panel and channel are live, adding an element of unpredictability to the piece. Bill Fontana has the ability to deconstruct cultural signifiers in a way that both minimises and amplifies their influence. There\u2019s no better place to apply this talent than Abu Dhabi, which also happens to be the location of his next project. Defying all sense of vertigo, Bill Fontana’s latest project turns the architecture of a suspended bridge into a sound and video installation.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":58912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[9587,9588,6168,141,6169,9589,9590,2839,9591,191],"class_list":["post-58905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-bill-fontana","tag-golden-gate-bridge","tag-lisbon","tag-london","tag-maat","tag-millennium-bridge","tag-museum-architecture-of-the-year","tag-pedro-gadanho","tag-somerset-house","tag-tate-modern"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u201cShadow Soundings\u201d is at MAAT in Lisbon, Portugal, until 12 February 2018.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"