Title: «Architecture as Instrument / The Sounds of the Decommissioned Nord Power Plant in Chemnitz». Project: Sound performance at the Begehungen Art Festival 2025 in Chemnitz, Germany. Duration: 20 minutter. Artist: Gisle Nataas and Håkon Thelin. Location/Architecture: The Nord Power Plant in Chemnitz. Date: 18. July 2025. Invited by: the curatorial group of the Begehungen Art Festival (led by Dr. Claudia Tittel)
Commission in Chemnitz
In spring 2025, I was invited by the curatorial group of the Begehungen Art Festival (led by Dr. Claudia Tittel) to create a site-specific sound work for the festival in Chemnitz, Germany. The festival is an official part of Chemnitz – European Capital of Culture 2025. The work was based on field recordings from the decommissioned coal power plant Heizkraftwerk Chemnitz-Nord, which ceased coal production in January 2025, and was performed live at the opening ceremony on July 18, 2025.
Title of the work: Architecture as Instrument / The Sounds of the Decommissioned Nord Power Plant in Chemnitz. The performance was supported by The Royal Norwegian Embassy and Music Norway.
In May 2025, I conducted field recordings at the decommissioned Nord lignite-fired power plant in Chemnitz, Germany, in preparation for this new sound work commissioned for Begehungen 2025. The performance took place inside the former power station itself.
The sound performance was created and performed by:
Gisle Nataas – field recordings, electronics, and live sampling
Håkon Thelin – double bass
Silvia Cabrera – performance
The Begehungen art festival 2025
The Begehungen art festival took place in 2025 on the site of the decommissioned Nord lignite-fired power plant in Chemnitz. In the midst of this impressive industrial architecture, the 22nd edition of the art festival took a future-oriented look at burning issues such as resource consumption, biodiversity and climate change. The Begehungen 2025 art festival is part of the official programme of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
The exhibition brings together 32 international artistic perspectives on the social, ecological and economic consequences of environmental destruction, questions of justice and power and the associated social crises. Dr. Claudia Tittel is the artistic director of the exhibition. The exhibition is based on the works selected by the artistic director, an artist-in-residence program with European partner institutions of the exhibitions and project ideas from the worldwide Open Call. The exhibition will include installations, photographs, drawings, sculptures as well as video and sound artworks. A good quarter of the artworks will be created specifically for the festival.
Photos from the Field Recording
Scroll down to see photos from the days with field recording captured by the brilliant photographer Johannes Richter.
Artists in particular have the ability to sensitise society and provide new perspectives on pressing social issues. The aim of the exhibition and the festival as a whole is to raise awareness of the complexity of the issues and stimulate new discourse. In this way, the festival aims to become a place of encounter, exchange and inspiration.
A new dimension
The owner, eins energie in sachsen GmbH und Co KG, has made part of the power station site on Dammweg available for the art festival. In the immediate vicinity of the famous artwork Seven Colours for a Chimney by Daniel Buren, an area of around 16,000 square metres is available for the art festival. The exhibitions will utilise the site, including the historically significant cooling tower 1, which dates back to the early 1960s, as well as various technical facilities such as the huge metal deitonate tanks. The three large halls will also house an exhibition area of more than 2000 square metres .
For the first time, the exhibition is planned to run for four weeks (mid-July – mid-August 2025). Due to the unique location, the exciting topics and an outstanding exhibition, the organisers are expecting at least 50,000 visitors.
