Ludwig Berger
Tracing Basalt
Southern Alpine Valley, Texts, Field Recordings

The project traces the life and work of Basalt (1910–?)—a geologist and queer figure from Berlin who fled the Nazis. They finally settled in a remote valley in Ticino (Switzerland) in the 1950s, where they formed deep ties with the stones, plants, and animals and developed early theories of acoustic ecology, preserved in aphoristic notes. The audiovisual project translates Basalt’s writings into a contemporary practice of listening in the Onsernone Valley—presented as a documentary field recording album and an audiovisual live performance.

In collaboration with Pablo Diserens
Released at Vertical Music and forms of minutiae (CD + Booklet)
Premiered at  Eventi Letterari Monte Verità

2025

Published by forms of minutiae and Vertical Music, “tracing basalt in the onsernone valley” is the first collaborative project of field recordists and sound artists, Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger, based on Basalt’s writings.

In the Oratorio di Niva, deep in the Onsernone Valley (Ticino, Switzerland), Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger found loose sheets of paper in a folder marked with the name “Basalt.” These aphoristic and personal notes conveyed a profound philosophy of listening and belonging. Amazed, the two artists unearthed the origin of these writings.

It is said that Basalt (1910 – ?) was a gender non-conforming person born and raised in Berlin. They studied geology while being part of the city’s vibrant queer scene before escaping the Nazi regime in the 1930s. For years, they travelled through Europe until they settled in the Onsernone Valley in the 1950s. Here, Basalt developed a keen ear and relationship to the environment informed by early theories of bioacoustics, psychoacoustics, and ecology. Oozing with poetry, Basalt’s notes revealed a hypothesis of their own emerging from a singular methodology of listening. The core principle of their “sonic imprint theory” was the belief that sound leaves measurable traces in the matter it comes into contact with. Consequently, Basalt spent the rest of their life using their body as a sound recording device in the hopes of creating a sonic archive through their skeleton. In time, they cultivated an intimate and extensive relationship with rocks, birds, rivers, insects, and human locals—such as fellow trans refugee and poet Gian Alessandro Rapp. In the end, nobody knows exactly what happened to Basalt. It is believed that they disappeared in the Onsernone Valley, their body never to be found. Based on Basalt’s last written entry, some speculate that they morphed into a grasshopper and joined, what they called, the insect people.

Inspired by Basalt’s life and writings, Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger put Basalt’s thinking and methodologies into practice. The duo followed these aphorisms like a map, listening to the Onsernone Valley and recording the sounds it fostered. As time passed, the landscape unveiled itself differently and the parallels with Basalt’s experience grew. Sounds became palpable while the boundaries between the two artists and the world blurred. Out of this attempt to bring Basalt’s philosophy back to life, Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger created a counter-cartography of the valley’s soundscape, tracing the effects and interrelations of its sonic imprints.


Selected writings of Basalt are featured in the CD’s booklet and as a digital PDF with the album. CD+booklet and digital editions available on Vertical Music and forms of minutiae.

Duration: 39:48 — CD + Booklet — Limited Edition of 200
Recorded and composed by Pablo Diserens and Ludwig Berger
Inspired by the life and writings of Basalt (1910–?) — All texts by Basalt
Published by Forms of Minutiae + Vertical Music
FoM 17 + VM16 — 2025

Photographs by Pablo Diserens
Mastered by Mathieu Bonnafous
Design by Nicolas Turki Duchesnay

This project was first presented as a live audiovisual performance at the festival Eventi Letterari Monte Verità’s 2025 “Psychogeography” edition. (photos © Michela Di Savino – Eventi letterari Monte Verità 2025)

Project developed an produced during residencies at Casadirosa in Loco, Ticino
Special thanks to Johannes Rühl

Supported by Kanton Zürich Fachstelle Kultur & Stadt Zürich Kultur