The MET
Wandering through the world of Caspar David Friedrich, listening for the sublime.
Friedrich's transubstantiation of the metaphysical impact nature has upon our souls rumbles like mountain thunder through the seventy-five works that form the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the artist held in the United States. Exploring his artistic communing with the sublime required a more poetic approach than simple didacticism.
We gathered a death doula, a historian, the curators, a mountain walker and science fiction writer, a multidisciplinary artist, and a poet, to help interpret Friedrich's profound spiritual and emotional encounters. What transpired was an audio tour of the sublime.
Working closely with the Met's team and the exhibition's curators, Alison Hokanson and Joanna Sheers Seidenstein, we moved beyond the simple didactics of a standard audio guide to build a sonic experience of voices and music to carry you into the themes of the show and Friedrich's ouvré.
Client
The MET
Project
Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature
Services
Concept Development - Creative Direction - Production - Interviews - Sound Design - Post Production
Voices
Alison Hokanson, Joanna Sheers Seidenstein, Andrea Wulf, Jordan B Cooper, Julius Von Bismarck, Marie Howe, Kim Stanley Robinson, Alua Arthur, Martyn Stewart
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Our Process
Connecting to the human experience of awe
Opportunity
The opportunity was clear, to explore the metaphysical themes within Friedrich's work, we would need an alternate approach to the audio tour structure and which type of voices to include.
Insight
Part of our growth and development has come through our belief in broadening the types of voices that speak about art, bringing in a science fictiion writer, a death doula, a poet was inspired and allowed for a broader engagement in the topic and brought the audience closer to the themes underlying Friedrich's work.
Outcome
The audio stops lent depth and context to the works on view and brought to life the sense of Friedrich's relationship with nature, the metaphysical and his role in the history of art. The Met creative team and curators were deeply touched by the candor and intelligence SOUND MADE PUBLIC applied to the project.
