A sound and video installation that turns the acoustics of a Scottish cave into a fourth dimension of musical composition.
The work of composer and spatial sound designer Lugh O’Neill navigates an evocative space where the tangible and familiar overlap with the aseptic sterility of the digital. O’Neill is known for pushing the boundaries of musical composition, traditionally conceived over frequency and time, by utilizing space as an additional dimension in which sound and music are written.
GIANTS, created in collaboration with Temporary Pleasure, is a spatial sound composition and four-channel video installation documenting a series of performances recorded within the basalt columns of Fingal’s Cave.
This cave, located on the island of Staffa off the coast of Scotland, is renowned for its cathedral-like acoustics and deep cultural significance. Legend holds it as one end of an ancient bridge built by Giants to Ireland (the Giant’s Causeway). It was also the location that inspired Felix Mendelssohn‘s famous Hebrides Overture (or Fingal’s Cave), after hearing the echoes of the waves crashing inside in 1829.
The installation explores the role of acoustic space and its cultural interpretations, considering the historical role natural structures have played in shaping rituals and spaces of worship. How do these acoustic landscapes fit into our sense of self and identity?
O’Neill approaches recording and composition as a spatial practice: while studio techniques like reverb and delay simulate movement, here the sonic dimension—whether spoken or musical—is viewed as a means to inhabit and contextualize environments. GIANTS invites a re-sensitization to our sonic surroundings as a pathway to past experience and a tool for navigating our urban, natural, and cultural environments.
BIO
Lugh O’Neill has composed, performed, and produced audiovisual and installation works for internationally renowned contexts, including KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin, MAXXI Rome, Sonar Barcelona, and ZKM Karlsruhe. As co-founder of the record label and event series C.A.N.V.A.S., O’Neill is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of composition through spatial exploration and interdisciplinary collaboration.
This project is part of ReSilence: Future Soundscapes & Affect Mining in Urban Ecosystems, the exhibition showcasing the outcomes of fifteen international art residencies supported by S+T+ARTS (the European Commission’s initiative for science, technology, and the arts). Through the artistic exploration of sound, RESILENCE redefines urban spaces, using the acoustic dimension to analyze the complex affective and ecological relations of future cities and promote collective awareness of what lies beyond mere noise. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with BASE, as part of the FAROUT Festival 2025 edition.