Alexander Tillegreen: Phantom Streams. Listening sessions
We live in different times also because our reality is increasingly shaped inside our own minds – somewhere between what we actually hear and what our perception itself fills in. Phantom Streams, a work by Danish composer and visual artist Alexander Tillegreen, plays precisely with this boundary. It creates an illusion of listening in which words seem to emerge, even though no clearly articulated speech is present in the space. Each listener hears something different, shaped by their own language experience, cultural memory, and subconscious associations.

The work is conceived as a spatial listening situation in which the listener actively participates. Movements, head turns, and position within the space influence how the internal stream of words takes shape. Sound is distributed across multiple loudspeakers and rhythmically displaced, so that the source of voices and words often becomes unclear. The space itself begins to resonate like a polyphonic, shifting consciousness. Here, the listener is not merely an observer, but a co-creator.

Alexander Tillegreen (b. 1991) is a composer and visual artist whose work exists at the intersection of sound, image, and space. His practice includes multichannel installations, performances, interactive listening sessions, exhibitions, and recordings. His artistic focus lies in psychoacoustics and in exploring how language, subconscious processes, and cultural memory merge within perception. Tillegreen’s works have been presented at numerous European institutions and festivals; in recent years, he has collaborated with a range of contemporary music ensembles and has been researching participatory listening practices within the context of artistic research.

Supported by: the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Liepāja City Council, Riga City Council, Liepāja Concert Hall Great Amber, Nordic Music Days, the Nordic Culture Fund, the Nordic Council of Ministers, Culture Action Europe and the Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond); Latvian Radio 3 Klasika.