At the Museum of Fine Arts, in a gallery dominated by Jef Lambeaux’s monumental The Human Passions, Billy Bultheel presents A Short History of Decay from a pulpit-like sculpture that serves both as an altar and amplifier. The harmonies of medieval modes dissolve into distortion and blast beats as musicians move through the reverberating space, and the sounds they produce bounce up against Lambeaux’s allegory of death and desire. 

Inspired by the philosopher Emil Cioran’s musings on the failure of reason, the space becomes a charged sound chamber where devotion and disruption intersect: a shrine and fault line, where sonic relics clash with human passion and contemplation becomes turmoil. The installation is accessible throughout the evening, with occasional live interventions activating the space.

Performers

Billy Bultheel, concept, composition and artistic direction
Adam Sinclaire, flute
Caleb Salgado, double bass 
Andrea D’Arsie, electronics
Tanya Viviana Abelson, Rabih Beaini, Fabrizio Castellano (Morphine Raum), Berlin Glass Works, Robert Wimmeroth en Volksbühne Werkstatt, construction
Alice Agency (Sara Sassanelli en Jared Davis), production

Discover the artist

Billy Bultheel: website | Instagram