Location: Pipeline Road, Cobar, NSW, 2835
Country: Wongaibon
LGA: Cobar Shire
Region: Western NSW
Website: https://www.cobarsoundchapel.com/
Map: Below
There is a Void, outside of Existence,
which if enter’d into
Englobes itself & becomes a WombWilliam Blake, “Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion” (1804-1820): extract inscribed on a wall of the Cobar Sound Chapel
From a distance, it looks like a rusty old tank on one of the rocky hills rising from Cobar’s dusty plain. It is that, but this 120-year-old relic in Wongaibon Country, near the inland mining town of Cobar, is also much more: a C21st artwork known as the Cobar Sound Chapel, which beams a 4-channel wav. soundtrack to the universe 24/7, through an elegantly designed bronze-lipped oculus.
This visionary site-specific sound installation is the collaborative creation by Australian composer, musician and sound artist Georges Lentz and architect Glen Murcutt AO. Its 43-hour repeating soundtrack consists of recordings of Lentz’s String Quartet(s), [more >>] performed by The Noise String Quartet. More >>
More on Georges Lentz’s music >>
Captions:
All photos taken by Merrill Findlay at the opening of the Sound Chapel on 2 April 2022 and on the following day.
COBAR’S COPPER COOKED IN EXPLODING STARS
Cobar Shire is rich in copper and other base metals, all which were created in stella explosions in a process called supernova nucleosynthesis. More >>
COBAR’S FIRST PEOPLES WIN NATIVE TITLE TO THEIR LAND
Federal Court recognises four-nation clan’s 95,000-square-kilometre native title claim in Western NSW
Zaarkacha Marlan, ABC Western Plains, 14 August 2024:
Families from the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan peoples have had their native title claim recognised after a 12-year fight.
It’s one of the biggest native title claims in Western NSW, and includes land and water up to the Barwon River in the north, the Lachlan River in the south, the Castlereagh River in the east and Ivanhoe in the west.
The native title holders hope it will allow them to keep their culture and traditions alive on the land for generations to come.
WRITING STILL IN PROGRESS : more to follow soon, including interviews with composer Georges Lentz, Ngiyampaa elder Aunty Elaine Ohlsen, and geologist Steve Trigg.
Post created 29 September 2024. Last updated 22 September, 2025.