Audiovisual Art at Buchenwald Memorial

We took all the photos ourselves – except for one, which was provided to us by the Buchenwald Memorial. The majority of the photos were taken in Buchenwald at the end of June 2024 after we were informed that we had won the competition. We also included photos from trips to various countries in EMPATHY.

Yes, over the past few years we have developed a special photography technique that produces both sharp and motion-blurred images. You can find out how this works in the Questions to the AC photographer on our website.

Not really, because we compose a so-called liquid image from the single images. Through the technical process of cross-fading, the photographs communicate with each other, merge and create new images. Recognising the separate images is no longer important. Instead: Associations, emotions, new perceptions.

The sound was composed especially for EMPATHY. It consists largely of noises and voices that we recorded at the Buchenwald Memorial and Weimar railway station. In order not to disturb the peace and quiet of the memorial, we created and recorded loud noises, such as those of the concentration camp, in our studio. Historical sounds, such as steam locomotives, come from sound archives. We combine these concrete sounds with the abstract world of music. Simple motifs and melodies that expand into orchestral compositions in the final part. Some instruments were recorded analogue, others were recorded with virtual sound generators and sample libraries.

The sound tells the story or stories. It adds another narrative level to the images. Image and sound are inseparably linked. Images evoke associations. Sound creates emotions – and vice versa. Together they reinforce and multiply the possible perceptions. Above all, EMPATHY tells the story of the people of Buchenwald. There are only a few remnants of their existence that we can show in images. But with the help of sounds, voices and melodies, we can trace and perceive their lives in Buchenwald.

There are various voices generated by AI. For example, we had a letter written in Dari by a refugee from Afghanistan to his children. The father explains to his children the reason for his flight and how sad he is that he had to leave them. We wanted to preserve the authenticity of this letter and used the original language, read out by a male and a female voice. The use of AI was very helpful for this. Incidentally, the letter can be heard in the 3rd part of EMPATHY.

Yes, the Morse code means: „Americans liberate Buchenwald concentration camp.“

A projector is positioned in front of each of the pylons, aligned at an angle of 45 degrees to the front right edge. This allows us to project the liquid image onto the front and right side of the pylon and minimise loss of resolution, sharpness and brightness.

Boxes will be positioned on both sides of the „Street of Nations“ so that visitors can move through a sound space and perceive stereo effects.