'Ein Ohr ist noch kein Wesen' ('An Ear is not quite a Being') was the overall title of a. cycle of large-scale, walk-through interactive 'space -sound - sculptures' which we developed and realized between 1990 and 1992, comprising the 'Seilraum' (rope room) in 1990, the 'Klangsee' (sound lake) in 1991, and the 'Klangstäbe' (sound poles) at the 1992 EXPO grounds in Seville. The 'Seilraum'was a kind of giant harp installed over 200 square meters at the Galerie Lang in Graz. Every deliberate or accidental contact with its elements made the visitor a 'player'.
The 'Klangsee' was an open-air installation at the Styrian Exhibition. People walking over a metallic pond activated sensors that triggered sounds ranging from stepping in water to walking over a piano keyboard; a computer controlled sound biotope to walk over.
The 'Klangstäbe' stand in front of the Austrian Pavilion at the EXPO in Seville. The vibrations visitors create by manipulating them are not the actual sound itself. The computer evaluates the data and returns sound and noises accordingly. The potential interaction grows more complex from year to year, and has reached the point where the 'Klangstäbe' can interact 'amongst themselves'. Even the algorithms which determine their reactions become an interactive toy.