Companions

He invented himself: an iron sculptor who follows his ears in his creations. The result is visually striking, in places monumental metal compositions. Struck at various points or bowed, they resonate in the most diverse sounds, from bell-bright to abysmally deep. What they offer the eye is surpassed once more by their world of sound for the ears. The cosmos comes towards you — Martin Spühler set himself no lesser goal.

When he asked me two years ago whether I wanted to make a film about his works, I was in immediately. Because that is exactly the right medium to document sounding sculptures that fuse visual art with music. Every month we filmed for a day and captured one work in image and sound, with names such as Kosmos, Streichelkanone or Tropfsäule. Putting them strikingly into the frame was no simple task. Even more important, though, was making their sonic potential audible. No notation in the world could capture it. First one must curiously explore what different possibilities each sound sculpture offers. Only then can it be played in spontaneous improvisation. Who else but Martin Spühler himself would know everything his creations can do. He discovered and refined their sounding powers in concentrated work. Yet he did not see himself as a musician. That is why it mattered to him to interest musicians in his sound sculptures and introduce them to them. First and foremost his wife Annemarie Spühler, a pianist, who discovered a new world in his creations. Likewise the percussionist Matthias Brodbeck engaged again and again with Martin Spühler's sound objects. The violinist Bettina Boller was interested in a collaboration and visited Martin Spühler in his attic full of wonders. Together with Martin Spühler, the percussionist Pit Gutmann and the clarinettist Peter Schmid rehearsed intensively in order to record the planned “final chord” for the film.

For two years the work on his film gave Martin Spühler strength and momentum. He passed away shortly before his 80th birthday. He still saw a rough cut of the film and was very happy with it. The “final chord” bears his signature but could only be realised afterwards.