Paul Schütze expresses himself through many different means – photography, video, installation and sound. The ‘sound’ and ‘installations’ bits are especially relevant, as ‘The Sky Torn Apart’ could be described as an extended installation that develops as it moves forward. Initially it feels like a thickly textured weather system, which gradually emerges and parks itself in the middle of the sound picture, but then things get darker and the ambience takes on a more threatening tone, as though a storm is brooding. This tallies with the inspiration behind the work, where ‘the earth is subsumed by water as a consequence of divine conflict’. Deep and meaningful stuff, then – literally – but also an experience you can immerse yourself in outside of these parameters. With such wide textures and dark, metallic reflections, there is much to gain from listening here.
Ben Hogwood
4 out of 5
