When does a noise become a tone? When does a sound trigger a response? And when does it become a shared experience? These questions lie at the heart of Cow Notes, the new performance project by Magdalena Forster, which was awarded the H13 Prize 2026. In Cow Notes, different sound sources share a common space: found metal bowls and wooden organ pipes. Some are played intentionally, while others resonate through movement or collision. Every touch sets off a reaction and can trigger further ones, eventually resulting in cacophony.
In their statement, the members of the 2026 H13 jury write: "Forster transforms the Kunstraum into a space of multilayered experiences. Sound, body, and material entwine in a cacophonous interplay. The overarching idea is an acoustic dialogue between human and nonhuman agents."