Maria W Horn

Panoptikon combines light and electronic sounds with a recorded vocal cycle, initially composed for the discontinued panoptic cell prison Vita Duvan (The White Dove) in Luleå, located in the northernmost region of Sweden.

The cycle was composed based on the imagined individual voices of the inmates, represented by vocals coming from various cells of the prison, recorded from the panoptic centre of the building. Together they form a slowly evolving melodic weave, the voices striving to express a common experience. Each voice strives for this commonality, but is hindered by the forced isolation of the prison architecture. The periodical circulation of amber and white lights are reminiscent of the cyclical shift between daylight and darkness.

This multichannel sound and fluctuating light installation synthesizes voices and electronics into a melodic mesh. It was originally developed in 2020 in the northern Swedish city of Luleå, where the Vita Duvan panopticon prison (The White Dove) remained in operation until 1979. The building is the only one of its kind in Sweden. Its architecture enabled the permanent surveillance of the cells’ interior from a central observation tower at the centre of the circular building. In reality, the inmates, who are remembered as imagined voices in the music, remained in isolation.