Touching and Hearing the Past in Dresden

Those who visit Brühl’s Terrace in Germany are set to get more than just pretty view.  Markus Kison’s touched echo brings life to the 1945 Dresden air raids. Visitors to the area can hear the airplanes, explosions and air raid sirens of the 13th of February raids though four small, disguised sound conductors.  Using a swinging balustrade, the railing conductors transfer sound though bone conduction, directly from the arm bone through to the inner ear.  Kison on the touched echo:

The intervention – at first calm and invisible – consists in taking people out of the present into the past: into the night of 13th February 1945. That was the night, when Dresden’s Old Town was almost entirely destroyed by the allies’ air raid. The tourists (as far as the are willing to participate) are supposed to adopt a mentally as well as physically contemplative position. An icon on the balustrade will be the only hint given to describe the interaction. According to this instruction one is supposed to lay one’s elbows onto the balustrade, close one’s ears and look at the Old Town. In this position the motors of B-25 bombers resound and cannonade across the sky above one’s head; followed by explosions in the distance.

Visitors can check out the installation now until its closing on October 31st.

[via Yanko]