Christine Rusche | REVERBERATIONS

Artist: Christine Rusche (1971)
Artwork: REVERBERATIONS (2024)
Collection: de Doelen
Made possible by: BPD Cultuurfonds, Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds,  de Doelen Steunfonds, Murals Inc., Stichting Zabawas, Convex architecten, STORCH Malergeräte und Profiwerkzeuge and Bierens Verf Rotterdam

The German artist Christine Rusche lived and worked in Rotterdam for ten years. She creates spatial, strong architectural paintings that force the viewer to reorient themselves in space. Her works are shown in museums and galleries as well as in public spaces. Rusche has a great interest in sound and acoustics. Her paintings have a concrete and graphic approach, often executed in black and white. She designed a composition especially for de Doelen, consisting of dynamic shapes and lines. This interplay of lines is based on a study of the architecture, space and function of the Great Hall of de Doelen. The reverberation of the sound in the same Great Hall is also included. For example, the four central black shapes are focused on the position of the stage – the source of music during a concert. The black shapes on the left and right sides are in line with the acoustic wall panels that reflect the sound on the sides of the Hall. 

'I wanted to realise a work in the Doelen', says Rusche. 'A work that fits both integratively and complementarily into the architecture of the space. This dynamic motif visually transforms the space. As a result, new associations are possible and new experiences of space can be obtained. This also creates an exciting dialogue with the other works of art in the foyer; a dialogue between the early days of the Doelen and today'. 

The interplay of lines of REVERBERATIONS shows where the sound originates in the main hall and how it moves through the space. The viewer can also read the work as music, as a visual description of loud and soft, fast or slow, of rhythm and movement. REVERBERATIONS is therefore also a sound space, produced by music - a space that disappears when the music stops. 

The mural REVERBERATIONS establishes an intriguing interaction between the sound space of the Grote Zaal and visual art, capturing the movement and reflection of sound.               

Christine carried out this work in collaboration with Frank Ahlgrimm and Jelmer Noordeman.

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