Water Whistle Revisted

On July 19th, 2026, Water Whistle Revisited takes place at Het Marnixbad in Amsterdam. The work is an artistic reinterpretation of Water Whistle by Max Neuhaus and is presented in the same (albeit reconstructed) swimming pool where it was shown in 1978, with Herman van den Muijsenberg, Pak Yan Lau, and Thomas Jaspers.

In that year, art institution de Appel invited visitors to the Marnixbad for an evening of sound. The invitation included the instruction to bring swimming gear. In the pool, Neuhaus presented a work in which sound could only be heard while submerged in water. It was a continuation of a pioneering series performed in swimming pools across the US between 1971 and 1974. Neuhaus developed the sound installation Water Whistle for different pools, adjusting each version to the dimensions and acoustic properties of the site. The work explores listening underwater as a condition in which sound behaves differently through matter and space, and where spatial orientation shifts through immersion. The work consists of water-driven whistles placed in the basin. Water flowing through these elements produces a continuous sound field. Visitors experience the work while floating or moving through the pool, navigating sound in motion as they move through the space in real time.

The 2026 edition is developed by Herman van den Muijsenberg, Pak Yan Lau, and Thomas Jaspers, following a year of archival research and artistic collaboration. The installation is based on sound production through water flow and incorporates additional acoustic instruments selected to meet the conditions of this pool. Water Whistle confronts us with the limitations of the human ear. This raises the question: How do aquatic organisms listen to their environment? At Het Marnix, an everyday, hyperlocal space that gathers many strands of life, the audience will, for a moment, feel as though they were something other-than-human. To revisit the work, Herman has conducted research in the archives of de Appel and the Max Neuhaus Estate in Locarno (CH). As part of this process, a small publication is currently being prepared.

“I became interested in creating sounds underwater when I realized that hearing is completely different in water. Sound travels much faster and farther; we hear not only with our ears but also with our foreheads; our perception of where a sound is coming from changes completely.” – Max Neuhaus

There are two occasions to witness the performance on Sunday, 11:00 and 13:00. Find your ticket via https://waterwhistle.weticket.io. Herman van den Muijsenberg, Pak Yan Lau, and Thomas Jaspers have been so kind to offer a few limited spots to our members. You can get a spot for the 13.00 session by sending an email to mailinglist@subbacultcha.nl with ‘Water Whistle Revisted’ in the subject line + your name in the email.

Registrations are open until 12.00 PM on weekdays.