Klaus Filip: Verfranssungen

AUDIO GHOSTS Guest Artist #7
Klaus Filip: Verfranssungen – Sound Installation (2026)

Friday, April 24, 2026 @ SP•CE Listening Gallery; 6-9 pm (opening)
Further presentations: April 25-28, 2026; 6-9 pm

SP•CE: Billrothstrasse 6/2, 1190 Vienna
Free admission. Limited space, reservation needed (rsvp)!

Part of the AUDIO GHOSTS Guest Artists Series.

Since many years, the focus of my work are sinewaves. I like their attractive sound which is transmitted directly to a single fiber of our auditory nerve. Their interaction and interplay with acoustic instruments and ambient sounds is mesmerizing - a single sinewave can creep into the sound spectrum of an instrument, thus changing the perception without being audible itself. As can be heard, for example, in the duo with the exceptional clarinet player Kai Fagaschinski. Another aspect is exploring the limits of perception - when does a sinewave appear in our auditory cortex, - when does the perception disappear, even though the sound is still physically present, - when do we perceive a change in pitch, and is this change real or just a change in volume.

The piece “Verfranssungen” is named after the little-known Franssen effect. The Franssen effect is normally demonstrated with a pure sinewave moving from one speaker to another without our brain noticing that. For this auditory illusion to work, the speakers need to be set up in a specific way in a room with significant reverberation. We will hear if that’s possible in the specific case of the listening gallery “SP·CE” with 4 speakers.