Exhibition 'Spiral of Time – Plaça dels Àngels – MACBA' | Barcelona Guide

Sound is intangible and ephemeral, yet it can be one of the most salient features of the spaces it occupies. Spiral of Time is an in-situ work by the artist, composer and researcher Edwin van der Heide (Hilversum, 1970) which explores sound and its relationship with space and time.

A system of microphones installed on the façade of MACBA’s Centre d'Estudis i Documentació has been recording the ambient sounds in Plaça dels Àngels since 17 July 2024 and will continue to record them until July 2027. The resulting sound archive, organised by time intervals, offers different ways of understanding the idiosyncrasies of the museum’s immediate environs through cyclical patterns that are the outcome of the rhythms of both nature and human activity. The archive is a sound portrait in which the patterns, which are often imperceptible in real time, are expressed through the sounds captured at different times.

Presented in dialogue with recordings of the Amazonian jungle near Manaus, produced in conjunction with the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) and the Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), the work invites spectators to delve into the artist's long-term work in the quest related to cities’ sound landscapes and experiments in ‘natural radio’, which provide a nuanced understanding of human and nonhuman habitats through vibrations.

The Spiral of Time project explores how listening can fashion the environment, connect different sound zones and regulate the sonorous-spatial reality. Spiral of Time uses an online interface that affords unique possibilities for browsing the recordings at different speeds. Time is visually represented with a spiral that intuitively captures the hours, weeks, months and years.

By choosing this spiral pathway, users can perceive and discover new relationships among sounds and time that are exclusive to the museum setting.

Schedule

Period	Days	Hours	Preus
Del 25 September al 23 June	Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday	from 11 am - 7.30 pm	General admission: €12 (allows access to all exhibitions currently open and the show featuring the Collection as many times as you want for one month after the purchase date) Online tickets: €10.80 Reduced-price tickets: €9.60 - Students - Over 65s without the Targeta Rosa - Groups (> 15 people) Reduced-price tickets: €6 - ‘Carnet Jove’ youth cardholders - Municipal Libraries’ Network Card - Ateneu Barcelonès Free admission: - Children under the age of 14 - Targeta Rosa - Over 65s with the Targeta Rosa - Saturdays from 4 to 8 pm - Friends of the MACBA - AAVC members - ICOM members - Unemployed people - Large-family or single-parent card - 12 February (Santa Eulàlia) - 18 and 19 April (Món Llibre) - 18 May (International Museum Day) - 24 September (La Mercè) Tickets at off-hours: €10.20 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1.30 to 3 pm Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 11 am. MACBA Friend Card: €18 Unlimited free admission for one year. Articket: €38
	Saturday, 6 January and public holiday 12 October	from 10 am - 8 pm
	Sunday and public holidays Closed 25 December and 1 January	from 10 am - 3 pm
	Museum Night 2025: 17 May	from 7 pm to 1 am	Free Admission
Del 24 June al 24 September	Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and public holidays (24 June, 15 August and 11 and 24 September)	from 10 am - 8 pm	General admission: €12 (allows access to all exhibitions currently open and the show featuring the Collection as many times as you want for one month after the purchase date) Online tickets: €10.80 Reduced-price tickets: €9.60 - Students - Over 65s without the Targeta Rosa - Groups (> 15 people) Reduced-price tickets: €6 - ‘Carnet Jove’ youth cardholders - Municipal Libraries’ Network Card - Ateneu Barcelonès Free admission: - Children under the age of 14 - Targeta Rosa - Over 65s with the Targeta Rosa - Saturdays from 4 to 8 pm - Friends of the MACBA - AAVC members - ICOM members - Unemployed people - Large-family or single-parent card - 12 February (Santa Eulàlia) - 18 and 19 April (Món Llibre) - 18 May (International Museum Day) - 24 September (La Mercè) Tickets at off-hours: €10.20 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1.30 to 3 pm Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 11 am. MACBA Friend Card: €18 Unlimited free admission for one year. Articket: €38	Free admission on 24 September (La Mercè festival)
	Sunday	from 10 am - 3 pm