Using turntables and other discarded or forgotten remnants of cultural activity, the Bernese artist and musician Christoph Hess—under the name Strotter Inst.—started making sound installations with surprising twists. Now he’s bringing his double act to the Zytglogge Tower; the oldest clock tower in Bern chimes at the wrong time.

Is the roof structure alive? Do its beams creak? Is there a guard in the tower? Who regulates the time here? Does the equipment show traces of decay from past days? Such questions arise from this installation based on the mechanical sounds of the Zytglogge clockwork. Strotter Inst. adds new elements to old parts and creates a seemingly anachronistic construction. A lonely turntable dances cheekily to time on the floor above. Further up, acoustic objects change randomly and surreptitiously. With regard to meaning, representation and space, the various levels of «zytglogging» become complemented and layered through movements and sounds. Sounds draw attention to themselves. What is already visually irritating, obtains a second, auditory level. All existing and added elements form one new entirety and can hardly be registered individually. Movements on the fourth floor change sounds in the attic level. Sounds produced on the third floor complement sounds in the second floor. A hodologic viewer who is interested in connections always arrives too late and nevertheless stays too early.

A fanfare of wind instruments will sound the opening on Wednesday 5.9. at 16:16. Thus, the music festival Bern will begin with a clear signal to the population, like in bygone times.