Halb Frau, Halb Fisch (Syrenka & Havfrue) 

2023, sound piece feat. Ariane Goehringer
29:33 minutes

Halb Frau, Halb Fisch (Syrenka & Havfrue) is a sound-based work composed of two voicess singing, whispering, and speaking with each other. What is heard is distanced and detached from a visible body. Syrenka and Havfrue appear as mermaid sisters whose separation is carried by voice. According to legend, they once shared the same waters before parting ways, one remaining in Denmark, the other continuing eastward toward the Baltic and the Vistula. This division unfolds through water, time, and distance. It resonates with a personal relation between two sisters, held open rather than resolved. Fragments from literary, musical, and popular representations of sirens and mermaids enter the work as quotations and melodies. Voices drawn from sources ranging from The Odyssey to The Little Mermaid appear as echoes. They accumulate as tones, phrases, and refrains, shaping a shared vocal memory. The work approaches the mermaid myth through an act of calling. 

The work was shown as part of the solo-exhibition 2023 Half Woman, Half Fish (Syrenka & Havfrue) at DAS GERICHT in Frankfurt am Main. 

http://www.dasgericht.com/current-past/