Susan Hiller's 'Channels' Installation at Synagogue de Delme

Susan Hiller's installation 'Channels' was presented at the Synagogue de Delme from June 12 to September 29, 2013. The work transformed the ground floor of the art center into a darkened space filled with about one hundred televisions displaying blue-to-gray static, creating a hypnotic sound-and-light environment. The installation featured recordings of near-death experiences (NDEs) collected by Hiller from the internet, narrated by anonymous voices in multiple languages. For this exhibition, the work was updated to become site-specific: the voices were those of local residents of Delme, speaking French, German, Luxembourgish, Portuguese, Italian, and other languages historically present in Lorraine. The artist described her practice as dealing with ghosts, and the installation evoked the history of the synagogue, which served as a place of worship from 1881 to 1981. The work was originally produced and shown at Matt's Gallery in London in 2013.