For SOUND series 2018, Gerard Crewdson presents site-specific acoustic sound sculptures. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a natural horn, nearly 5 metres long, made from a single hollow tube (like a didgeridoo) and played with a mouthpiece (like a Swiss alphorn). The horn resembles a ‘serpent’ – not only the creature – but also the instrument of that name which was the predecessor of the modern-day tuba.

Low brass instruments have traditionally been associated with raising the voices of the dead in both Western and non-Western cultures. These are the ‘serpent songs’ of the title but also the ‘windshadows’ – a compound word taken from a Paul Celan poem, Weiss Und Leicht / White and Light. This might be read as a wind of shades, of ghosts, blowing over the genocidal landscape of post WWII Europe.