Sonnen und Lauschen mit Soletti - Sunbathing and listening with Soletti

listening sessions in public space

"Sonnen und Lauschen with Soletti" is a mobile public programme dedicated to sound art and collective listening in public space. Initiated in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it emerged from the desire to create shared listening experiences despite social distancing and to reactivate public space as a site of cultural exchange.

The programme presents sound compositions and interdisciplinary artistic contributions in everyday urban environments and places of transit—railway stations, public squares, parks, underpasses, riversides, parking lots, and multi-storey car parks. By continuously changing location, each site becomes an integral part of the work, shaping the acoustic and spatial experience of the audience.

At its core, the project explores public space as an open stage for artistic encounter, where collective listening becomes a social practice. Artists from different disciplines are invited to develop site-responsive works that engage with the unique sonic and spatial qualities of each location.

The specially developed Soletti sound installation serves as the project's artistic and technical platform. Solar-powered, self-sufficient, and transportable by cargo bicycle, it enables immersive multi-channel sound presentations in virtually any location without relying on existing infrastructure.

Soletti Team Alina Draeger / Claudia Dell / Diana Karle / Nina Bendix Igleses / Sofie Heinz / Thai Tai Pham

Graphic design Alina Draeger / Aaron Adu-Appeagyei

Featuring artists

2023

Aliya Sayfart / Dean Ruddock / Francisca Rocha Gonçalves / Jason Langheim / Mira Rachel / Rym Nuoioua

2022

David Bilek / Eleftherios Krysalis / Emil Torp / Maria Thrän / Paula Holzhauer

2021

Abogar Duo / Coretta Klaue / Luise Peschko / Marko Hörschelmann / Munzard / Paulina Sofie Kiss

graphic design: Alina Draeger

graphic design: Aaron Adu-Appeagyei

Soletti

mobile and solar powered multi-channel installation on cargo bike

Soletti is a mobile, solar-powered 8.1 multi-channel sound system designed for site-specific and spatial sound reproduction in public space. As an artistic intervention, it creates situations in which sound compositions interact with the acoustic character and sonic ecology of each location.

Rather than projecting sound at high volume, Soletti focuses on the subtle integration of composed sound into its surrounding environment. Each site becomes an active part of the listening experience, allowing the composition to merge with and respond to the existing soundscape.

Originally conceived as a self-sufficient, solar-powered sound system, Soletti evolved into both a musical instrument and a platform for spatial sound research and site-specific artistic intervention. Its development involved extensive electroacoustic experimentation and the integration of diverse electronic and acoustic components into a mobile, autonomous instrument.

artistic concept: Thai Tai Pham

technical design: Frederic Schmidt

photo: David Frommhold