JEPPE HEIN
PATH OF SILENCE

KISTEFOS-MUSEET, JEVNAKER, NORWAY
PERMANENT INSTALLATION SINCE 2016

Inspired by theremarkable topography of the landscapeofthe Kistefos Sculpture Park, thestepped slope and terraces beside the Industry Museum, where the power and energy of wateris directly visible and gives the site a special quality, a free form is adapted to the shape of thislandscape, thus creating a dialogue between the place and the object.

The sculpture is definedby an extensive mirrorlabyrinth that encloses three spaces of silence: Acontemplative space, where an enclosure of high mirror steles promotes an upward glance to the sky, anatural space, where a tree inside the sculpture links the inside with the outside and anactive space where walls of water appear and disappear, thus offering ever-changing perspectives of the surroundings.The water flow is expressed in thespiral movement of the installation and most notably continued in the fountain. The mirror installation refers to the landscape in a more complex way, consisting of individualsteles that stand at various heights based on their position. The water pavilion isunique in its form and materiality, since a mosaic of local stones isused as a base and arranged in a pattern derived from theFrequency Watercolours.
The rushing water creates a different kind of silence, a noise behind which everything else fades, encouraging visitors to clear their minds and listen to their inner voice.

Walking through the installation will be like walking through the Norwegian landscape in miniature. Through three dimensions of silence, and moments of contemplation, concentration, seclusion and dialogue between oneself, others and nature, visitors will be able to experience the site as asource of inner silence.
Path of Silence, 2016
460 mirror lamellae: highest grade mirror stainless steel, aluminium and stainless steel substructure; water, stainless steel basin, brass nozzles, stainless steel pipes, stainless steel grids, pumps, programmed control, Norwegian slate; oak bench; Norwegian boulders, maple tree, slate gravel, granite stairs
4,5 x 33 x 25 m, diameter water pavilion: 11,6 m

© Images Thomas Reining and Frederic Boudin