Eternity (?) in Heaven (?) features two opposing screens. One screen displays an animation where video footage from Hailuoto—primarily depicting water and clouds—is dynamically modulated in real time by a Trautonium soundtrack through specialized software running on a local computer. Specifically, four audio tracks are segmented into parts of varying lengths and triggered by a random generator. Each track modulates a single visual animation, which are combined to produce a unified video output The tracks generate a polyphonic soundscape that never repeats, theoretically allowing for an infinite array of new combinations and variations. This results in a continuous audio-visual composition generated on site that, unless interrupted, would play eternally without ever repeating identically.
The adjacent screen displays a montage of sky footage filmed in Hailuoto, layered, filtered and blended into a unified composition. Hailuoto’s skies offer an endless source of sublime beauty, deepening the island’s enchanting and mystical atmosphere. The panoramic images slowly fade, oscillate, and shift in sync with another Trautonium soundtrack. The result resembles a living painting more than a conventional video. It brings out the delicate, almost sacred beauty of everyday surroundings while evoking the idea of heaven as a mystical realm onto which spiritual longings and desires are projected.
The two soundtracks blend through the space according to the listener’s position and, together with the visual imagery, create a strong sense of a mystical realm beyond this world. The space becomes an oasis of calm and stillness, ideal for reflection and meditation. This audiovisual environment combines artistic richness with soothing, restorative qualities that can support deep spiritual experience. It offers a sanctuary for body and soul, while also providing a quiet setting for work, yoga, qigong, or other contemplative practices.
Amidst political and material disputes, rising social tensions, uncertainty about the future, and growing divisions within society into opposing and hostile factions, mental health issues are becoming more widespread across all demographics. Social media and the ongoing pressure to constantly compare oneself push many individuals to their psychological breaking point. This installation encourages visitors to move beyond mental agitation and set aside ego-driven self-presentation and comparison with others, allowing them to connect with the subtle, often overlooked dimensions within and around us.
Our daily lives and experiences are largely governed by material narratives and regulations. Recent developments and interpretations in quantum physics are reshaping our understanding of the relationship between energy, consciousness, and matter, offering fresh perspectives on our existence within the universe. This installation aims to encourage visitors to expand their awareness beyond the visible realm. Embracing the non-material, spiritual dimension that unites us is essential for humanity’s growth. To paraphrase Einstein, problems cannot be resolved at the same level at which they emerge. Consequently, it is necessary to revive and cultivate the transcendental aspect of our nature, which has been diminished by excessive consumption and distorted by advertising and social media. Social discourses and artistic works frequently focus on highlighting issues, grievances, and suffering. This installation pursues a distinctly different aim. It revisits the profound questions and deep desires of humanity, engaging with the soul and the subconscious. The tradition of art fulfilling a higher purpose has largely faded and is often ridiculed. Eternity? in Heaven? follows the tradition of mystical currents found in religions worldwide. It is transcendental not only in terms of spiritual dimensions but also from a religious perspective.
Rather than creating divisions, it seeks to bring people together. In an era where AI can provide answers to nearly everything, it highlights the enigmatic aspects of our existence and shifts our focus from seeking explanations towards experiencing deeper and elevated states of consciousness. The Trautonium, with its unrestricted tonal scale and distinctive sound, creates an otherworldly aesthetic and expressive experience that immerses the listener in a mysterious and enchanting environment. The visual installations contribute to this ambiance by providing both a calming and stimulating effect. It may inspire people to live with deeper connections to themselves, to others, and to higher dimensions.
This is not only about individual well-being; it is a call to awaken a higher collective consciousness—an urgent political force needed to confront war, injustice, greed, egoism, and the destruction of the Earth.
To transform the world, we must transform consciousness itself. Spiritual work is not withdrawal from politics but its deepest foundation.It should lead to better intentions, better actions in everyday life, and, ultimately, the transformation of the world through our own inner transformation.
Friedrich Trautwein, Berlin, 1929; further developed by Oskar Sala
The Trautonium is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments, developed by Friedrich Trautwein in Berlin in 1929 at the Musikhochschule’s music and radio laboratory, the Rundfunkversuchstelle. Unlike a piano or organ, it has no keyboard. Instead, the performer presses a resistor wire stretched above a metal plate, shaping pitch and expression directly by hand.
This unusual method of playing gave the instrument a continuous, voice-like quality. Trautwein designed the Trautonium to produce a wide range of orchestral colors and human vowel sounds from a single source. Its formant filter shaped the electronic tone into rich, natural-sounding timbres, making the instrument both experimental and remarkably expressive.
The Trautonium was first presented publicly in 1930, when Oskar Sala and Paul Hindemith performed it at the “Neue Musik Berlin” event. Sala became its most important performer and innovator. He later created the Mixtur-Trautonium, adding a second manual and a subharmonic frequency divider that allowed fuller textures and chord-like sounds.
Sala used the instrument in concerts, recordings, and film soundtracks. Its most famous appearance is in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, where Sala created the film’s unsettling bird sounds without using recordings of real birds. Through this work, the Trautonium entered popular memory as an instrument of striking atmosphere and imagination.
For decades, the instrument survived largely through Sala’s dedication. In the late 1980s, he converted it from tube to transistor technology with help from electrical engineering students in Berlin. One of them, Jürgen Hiller, later founded Trautoniks and produced a small number of custom instruments based on Sala’s design.
Rare, tactile, and highly expressive, the Trautonium occupies a distinctive place in the history of electronic music. Its sliding pitches, manual control, formant filtering, and subharmonic tones continue to give it a sound unlike any other instrument.