Flüsterbrücke

Jan Bormann (* 1939): Whisper Bridge, 2011, 2 steel installations made of mild steel P 285 Gh, each ø 3 m, distance: 59 m, 3.3 t, Emscher-Ufer at Phoenixsee Ost, Dortmund-Hörde.
Bright orange shells with a diameter of three meters face each other on the banks of the Emscher at a distance of 59 meters and allow communication even across the river. On the floor, stones mark the ideal position in front of the shells that one must take in order to even whisper messages to the other person on the other side of the river.
Jan Bormann makes use of a physical law of sound transmission, so that the sound of the words spoken into the shell are bundled by the concave shape of the shell and transported via sound waves to the other side of the bank. The artist manages to build a non-visible but audible bridge through his two-part installation and to connect the two banks by communication.
"The Emscher was a forbidden zone for decades [...]. With the renovation, the river becomes an organic part of life again. Conversations from shore to shore across borders are desired. This is the theme of my Whisper Bridge - here you can even talk to strangers across the river. For this I want to invite with the Whisper Bridge. "(Jan Bormann quotes after: emscherplayer.de/media/content/publication/000/035/000035561.pdf)
Jan Bormann was inspired during a visit to a Russian monastery, where quiet conversations were still to be understood at a greater distance due to the high vaulted ceilings themselves. Inspired by the acoustic phenomenon, the first thoughts of a sculptural work were created, with which one can build an invisible bridge over a river. (See ibid.)
The Whisper Bridge on Phoenix Lake in Dortmund not only connects the two banks of the Emscher, but also bridges the industrial past to the present day. In April 2010, the company Afflerbacher Bodenpresserei closed as the last hot-forming steel company in Dortmund on the Phoenix Steel area, and the two steel floors with a diameter of three meters, which the artist uses for his work, come from the last pressing of the company.
Author: Katharina Kemper

Aan de oever van de Emscher staan twee feloranje, bijna halfronde schalen tegenover elkaar. Samen vormen ze de "Füsterbrücke" omdat woorden die aan de ene kant in de kom worden gefluisterd, aan de andere kant gemakkelijk kunnen worden begrepen in ongeveer 60 meter, omdat hier de fysieke wetten van de geluidsoverdracht optimaal worden gebruikt.
Gefascineerd door het fenomeen dat hij voor het eerst had waargenomen in de gewelven van een klooster, ontwikkelde de kunstenaar Jan Bormann deze denkbeeldige brug, de zogenaamde voor de geluidtransporterende trays of "stalen planken" uit de Afflerbacher Bödenpresserei. Het zijn de laatste staalplaten die hier op het voormalige Phoenix-staalterrein zijn gemaakt voordat de fabriek in 2010 werd gesloten. nrw-skulptur.de/1/?tx_nrwskulpturwerke_showwerke%5Bwerk%5D=335&tx_nrwskulpturwerke_showwerke%5Baction%5D=show&tx_nrwskulpturwerke_show %5Bcontroller%5D=Werk&cHash=08bb5be382387d0c77d9899aa0ecf13f

Probeer de Whisper Bridge ... is al indrukwekkend als de persoon met wie je praat in de andere oranje spiegel fluistert en je hem nog steeds kunt verstaan op ongeveer 30 meter afstand ...