Sound is spatial. Just like light, it has a source, but it also spreads everywhere around us, creating interactions and forms of intimacy. With music, we tend to focus entirely on the source. This is like looking directly at the sunlight. The glare means you no longer see how the rays reflect in the space around you.

Retaining the Energy, but Losing the Image (2019) is an installation by Vincent de Belleval and Nicolás Jaar consisting of 10 rotating parabolas, reflectors that capture and emit sound and light. They create an ever-changing environment of interlinked reflections and feedback chains. The title alludes to light and sound diffusion, signifying how the energy of the sound and light is kept in its reflections but not in its source. Due to their parabolic shape, the reflectors can also focalize sound, creating hallucinatory surrounding fields.

This installation will be on view from October 20, 2019 onwards.

From October 20 until December 20, Nicolás Jaar will give several live concerts with the parabolas. For these events, separate tickets must be purchased. Performance dates are announced via our website and social media. Outside of the concerts, the parabolas can be experienced as a sound installation on presentation of a valid admission ticket.