In a field on the island of Lolland, overlooking Småland waters, a monument that combines sculpture and music in a landscape full of history creates a unique experience.

The Dodecalith (Greek: Twelve stone) consists of 12 stone columns, each 7-9 meters high and each weighing 25-45 tons, where the upper 2 meters are carved like heads, all facing the center of a circle 40 meters in diameter.

Under a circle of sitting stones, a 12-channel sound system is installed, allowing spatial electronic music to play inside the circle daily from sunrise to sunset all year round.

The 12 stone figures are made by
sculptor Thomas Kadziola:

"Figures up to 9 meters would seem grotesque if they were given clear facial expressions such as a smile. At the same time, they need to have an intimate expression of not appearing fascistoid. The bigger the head becomes, the less the effect and vice versa. For me, the expression, personality lies in abstraction. It is incredible that a character can be described through abstraction.
In order to maintain concentration and impact throughout the years of work, it is necessary to have a personal relationship with what I do. In this way, the work will reflect where I was in life when the figure was created. Something private becomes personal and therefore universal. When all 12 figures are finished, they will hopefully mirror lived lives others will recognize themselves in. My hope is that the finished Dodekalith will stand as a kind of zodiak of life. The twelve insights of life."

Visitors' Comments:

"The idea of music in DODEKALITTEN came about as an idea. I did not have a concrete idea of what the music should sound like, but it should be an extra dimension in the work, an equal part.

When I heard Wayne's music for the first time, DODEKALITTEN again. It had a new character. The music is not just made in the spirit of the place and the work. It makes it all vibrate, to tell new chapters of the same story.

With ten stones, DODEKALITTEN to an open-air temple. With the music, it got a transparent roof. If you stand in the middle, you can hear everything people whisper about."

Lyt til et uddrag af musikken ledsaget af billeder fra Dodekalitten

MUSIKKEN ”SOLKREDS” KOMPONERET AF 
WAYNE SIEGEL:

Solkreds er en permanent lydinstallation skabt til Dodekalitten. Der er snarere tale om et system end om et stykke musik i traditionel forstand. Solkreds skabes løbende af et computerprogram og danner gradvist skiftende lydkulisser til skulpturerne. Stemningen kan være alt fra rolig til barsk. Lyden afspilles gennem højttalere placeret under 12 siddesten: én ud for hver position i stencirklen. Værket er skiftevis hørbart og tavst. Varighederne mellem pauserne er uforudsigelig og skiftende. Solkreds begynder at spille hver dag ved solopgang og stopper ved solnedgang. Naturen og solsystemet er med til at skabe musiken. Computersystemet benytter data om solens position på himlen, månens fase, vindhastighed, vindretning, luftfugtighed, lufttryk og temperatur til at styre de musikalske processer.

Solkreds består af fire musikalske elementer: droner, klokker, vandstemmer og solsange. Dronerne består af 24 elektroniske stemmer, to i hver højttaler. Dronerne er skiftevis hørbare og tavse. De 24 stemmer har hver sit forløb, men forholder sig også til hinanden og danner skiftende harmonier. Der er 52 forskellige harmonier, som udvikler sig langsomt over tid uden gentagelser. Klokkerne optræder forholdsvis sjældent og kun når dronelydene er aktive. De danner et modstykke til de langstrakte drone-lyde. Klokkernes musikalske strukturer skabes med udgangspunkt i de harmonier, som dronelydene spiller på et givent tidspunkt. Vandstemmerne benytter en form for lydsyntese, hvor to forskellige lyde bliver ”krydset” med hinanden. Lydene består af anslåede toner krydset med forskellige optagelser af vand. Vandstemmerne aktiveres med skiftende tidsintervaller. De spiller sammen med dronerne og følger dronernes harmonier. Tidsintervallerne for dronerne, klokkerne og vandstemmerne bliver påvirket af vejrdata.

Hver dag ved middagstid tier dronerne og klokkerne, og der afspilles en Solsang. Det er en fast daglig koncert, som starter, når solen står højst på himlen beregnet ud fra Dodekalittens geografiske koordinater. Tidspunktet - kaldet astronomisk middag - varierer fra dag til dag, men ligger altid i tidsrummet mellem kl. 11.58 og 12.30 når det er vintertid og en time senere når det er sommertid. Der er 30 solsange - én til hver dag i månens cyklus. De solsange som ligger tæt på hinanden i månens cyklus har et nært musikalsk slægtskab, mens de solsange, som ligger langt fra hinanden er forskellige. Solsangene er gennemkomponerede og har en varighed af 3-5 minutter hver. De danner en kontrast til de andre elementer i Solkreds, som er styret af tilfældighed. Hver solsang består af 12 stemmer, som optræder solistisk. De 12 skulpturer i stencirklen kommer i dialog med hinanden med enkelte flerstemmige passager, hvor alle 12 synger samtidig.

THE BEGINNING - HOW IT ALL STARTED

In 2006 Thomas Kadziola participated in LandArt Lolland Falster with the work Anemarken in a field near Søllestedgaard. The work consisted of three steles with carved heads. The sculptures were placed in a grain circle 14 meters in diameter. The two highest were about 2.5 meters. The smallest, partly reclining, was about 1.6 meters.

In connection with this exhibition, Thomas Kadziola was contacted by composer Gunner Møller Pedersen: Had Thomas noticed the unique energy in the center of the work? Yes, Thomas had, without being able to explain how it had arisen. Gunner now sowed an idea in Thomas: To make a larger work with higher steles that might generate a correspondingly stronger energy. Using reverse calculation Thomas arrived at twelve stones at 6 meters in height. It would take years and require a collaborator. Now that Gunner imagined Thomas was working on the stones for years, then Gunners' job had to be creating the music. Thomas formulated Gunners' task as a work for 12 channels that would work equally well no matter where one stood in relation to them.
The idea of Dodekalitten was born, and the long and laborious realization of the project began

Photographer Bibi Nissen documents the creation process

"Overall, I portray DODEKALITTEN in all processes from the time the stones are extracted until they are finished in the stone circle, and DODEKALITTEN itself in all the situations that arise around it and the artists Thomas Kadziola and Wayne Siegel.
My goal is not only to document, but to get so close that you sense the people invlolved and the energy of the project. When you are in DODEKALITTEN, you as a visitor play into the experience in the same way as the weather and the light, as if they are part of the work and the narrative. I see the everything about DODEKALITTEN as one work that deserves, almost cries out, to be told in pictures.

When I shoot, it's not just reflections on framing and angles that come into play. Although the work is large, monumental, it is also very intimate. Everyone who works on it, from the artists to the crane crew, is personally engaged. It creates images with intensity and intimacy. The fact that everything about DODEKALITTEN is incredibly photogenic and sometimes very dramatic is an additional gift. The narrative around DODEKALITTEN is so diverse and amazing and this is what drives me as a photographer. It's not just functionality and the process of storytelling. Joy, pain, sadness, anger, frustration and everyday banalities speak. Although it is world history that is being written, it is also a story about people."

Nature & history

The entire area around Dodekalitten was landscaped twice in 1968 and 1974. Thus, there will be no change in the beautiful landscape around Dodekalitten. The area is not only beautiful, it is filled with history: 

Kåre Johannesen's tribute to Dodekalitten