Austrian artist and composer Stefan Fraunberger was commissioned to present his alchemical research on the influence of nature on culture. His work touches on time, periphery, memory, and transience—as evidenced in his Quellgeister research. The series has developed through archeological sonic research on semi-ruined organs discovered in saxon churches in Transylvania. Fraunberger sees these instruments in the liminal areas beyond nature and culture, reinforced by their location in cultural deserts of the European present. 

Quellgeister began in 2014 with the release of the first three compositions on Chmafu Nocords, and a second volume, entitled Wurmloch, was released on Interstellar Records in 2016. The pieces are described by Fraunberger as air-sculptures, in which the church’s organs serve as surviving and storytelling beings within the ruins, reflecting on the the changing social landscape of Romania.

Fraunberger’s recordings focus not on preservation, but rather on speculation, as he considers the identity of objects as they become less tied to human significance.