fulgurite, wood from walnut and plum
2025

Formed by the fusion of silica sand from a lightning strike, this rare glass-like tube captures one of nature’s most powerful phenomena in mineral form - transformed into a wind instrument. Lightning is a high-energy electrical discharge, a natural act of re-balance, occurring either within clouds or between the atmosphere and Earth's surface. Its intensity can heat the surrounding air to over 30,000 Kelvin—five times hotter than the surface of the sun. This flute, crafted from fulgurite, is more than an instrument: it is an artifact of impact, a conduit of electricity, a vessel of elemental memory. Through the flow of air, the fossilized flash reawakens as audible vibration.
Fulgurite (von lateinisch fulgur, „Blitz“), sind durch Blitzeinschlag im Gestein oder Sand entstandene Röhren.Diese Flöte wurde aus einer Blitzröhre gemacht. Gewandelt in ein Windinstrument erzählt der Klang von den stärksten elektrischen Entladungen in der Erdatmosphäre.
Through the flow of air, the fossilized flash reawakens as audible vibration.

Flutemaker and Musician STEFAN KRONSTEINER


BEWUSSTSEIN IM UNIVERSUM, eine zivilisationsunabhängige Wunderkammer, 2025, Palais Liechtenstein, Feldkirch | A
Echoes of Lightning : The Sonic Legacy of Fulgurite
Music: Stefan Kronsteiner, Production: Farnklang Studios
photography by Victoria Stuetz