Toni Brell

During my residency, I will continue my research into horn instruments as sculptural objects and as resonant extensions of the body. At the center of this research lies the question of how traditional ceremonial practices can be respectfully reimagined and subverted in contemporary contexts – to produce new forms of communal affect and connection for those who may feel alienated by tradition, whether through exclusion, unfamiliarity, or cultural rigidity. Informed by personal memory and trans-European influences, I am specifically mesmerized by the long, low voices of large horns, like the alphorns I saw each summer, when we visited the landscapes where my Swiss mother grew up. But also the midwinterhoorns found in the Dutch-German border region where I was born and raised.

In myths and folklore, horn-instruments often mediate between worlds. From biblical trumpets announcing the Apocalypse, to Grimms’ “The Singing Bone” Fairytale, to Triton’s mythical horn commanding the seas. But they also assert authority and as such, the ceremonial is political: the history of horns is deeply entangled with markers of power – who is allowed to sound, and who is permitted to be heard.
During the residency, I will delve deeper into both folklore and history of horn instruments through reading and writing, explore their materiality through working with wood, and their performative potential through explorations of voice, sound, and movement.

Toni Brell works at the intersection of installation, performance, and sound. Their practice begins from a heightened sensitivity to touch and listening, exploring how sensory experience shapes emotional and relational states. Drawing from ASMR and Foley practices, Brell crafts sound-producing objects and ceramic instruments that invite activation through touch, gesture, and shared attention. By treating instruments as extensions of the body rather than musical tools, Brell explores how sound production can subvert traditional hierarchies of composition and participation. Recent exhibitions and performances include Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen, Kunstcentrum De Ploeg, NEVERNEVERLAND, and Fries Museum. Brell lives and works in Amsterdam.