Power Line Hum (Composition for the organ in Oslo City Hall)
Information
What sound does electric current make?
In Øystein Wyller Odden’s project you will be able to hear static organ notes that imitate the sound made by a fuse box in the City Hall. Electricity makes a sound; fifty times a second the current changes direction, which makes a low, humming bass sound with a frequency of 50 HZ. This low hum, with the resonances and harmonics it creates in the fuse box, has been transcribed by the artist for reproduction on the organ; this is the first time the City Hall’s organ pipes have been used.
Power Line Hum was played every day between 3.45PM to 4PM at Oslo City Hall between 25th of May 2019 - 21st September 2019.
Click here to read more about Øystein Wyller Odden's second work for oB1 also performed in Oslo City Hall: Kraftbalanse (Composition for Piano, Alternating Current and Orchestra).
OSLO CITY HALL
OSLO CITY HALL is Oslo City Council's administrative and political headquarters, located in Pipervika just by Aker Brygge. The magnificent building was designed by Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson, and was inaugurated to coincide with Oslo's 900th anniversary in 1950. The City Hall houses, among other things, administrative offices, the Council Hall and a collection of art and decorative works integrated into the building's design, in its halls and on the facades. Artists contributing to the building's sumptuous decorations include Henrik Sørensen, Alf Rolfsen, Axel Revold, Per Krohg, Anne Grimdalen, and Kari Grude.
The City Hall has two towers, the western tower housing free studios for artist on the 13th floor. On the roof of the eastern tower there is a carillon with 49 bells, operated manually at certain times by the carillon player Laura Marie Rueslåtten; her repertoire covers everything from classical to pop, rock and jazz.