As part of Proximity Music @ Rewire Festival 2026 we received Mariska de Groot’s installation spatial BROM.
An old spinning top that Mariska de Groot found at a flea market sparked the idea for a sound installation. Immediately fascinated by this colourful children’s toy and its humming harmonies, she delved into the history and mechanics of these ingenious spinning tops. The result is BROM, a choir of motorised, rotating, harmonium-like instruments suspended from the ceiling, creating sounds through a system of air and reeds. Each instrument is tuned differently, creating shifting interferences and rhythmic vibrations, immersing visitors in a hypnotic soundscape as they move through the space.
iii member Mariska de Groot is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of light, sound, and space. She creates immersive installations in which self-built instruments create dynamic, multisensory environments. Inspired by seemingly simple historical inventions, her work reinterprets these inventions through experimental approaches, exploring the role of technology, perception, and spatial experience.
Proximity Music is a joint exhibition programme initiated by iii and Rewire. It seeks to connect sound, architecture, and technology through intimate sensory experiences. As part of Rewire 2026, the sixth edition, titled Proximity Music: The Ongoing Hum, will take place from 9 to 12 April across various locations in the centre of The Hague.
Proximity Music: The Ongoing Hum focuses on attuning to the seemingly inaudible rhythms, vibrations, and radiations that coexist in our environment. The exhibition brings together diverse instruments and compositions that stimulate new ways of perceiving our everyday surroundings: from tapping into the electricity of cyanobacteria and sensing the heartbeat of strangers to the barely audible frequencies resonating in ceramic vessels and immersion in a hypnotic humming top soundscape. Tuning into the hidden rhythms of the physical world, this exhibition transforms materials into portals by encouraging listening beyond the ears. More info: linktr.ee/proximitymusic
This exhibition is supported by Stroom Den Haag, Creative Industries Fund NL, The Municipality of The Hague, Konrad Boehmer Foundation and Cultuurfonds.