Magische Auge

The installation »Magische Auge« [The Magic Eye], reconstructed for the exhibition at the ZKM, was developed in 1969 by Peter Weibel together with his then partner Valie Export. It is considered the world’s first autogenerative sound screen, in which sound is not produced in the projector via the film’s audio track, but by projecting an abstract film onto a foil equipped with electronic photocells and relays. The brighter the light on the screen, the higher the sound; the darker the light, the lower the sound generated by converting light waves into sound waves. For the original projection, Weibel made use of the film »Helga Philipp« about an Op Art painting by the artist of the same name made in 1965 by his friend, the Austrian filmmaker Kurt Kren (1929–1998). For the exhibition he is conceiving a new film. You can and should step between the screen and the film projector to control the sound yourself with your moving shadow.