OCEANA
Sound and Visual Art
Excited to share - Oceana shortlisted for the MA/IN Award,
Audiovisual category 2023 and part of the
ARTESCIENZA 2023 FESTIVAL, Rome July 2023 - Goethe- Institut, Rome.
in collaboration with the CRM (Centro di Ricerche Musicali) of Rome
World Premiere: Earth Day Art Model Festival IUPUI - Indianapolis April 22, 2023
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
MA/IN 2023 International Festival for Experimental Film and Video in Matera, Italy 10th November 2023 and in partnership with ARTESCIENZA 2023 FESTIVAL, Rome July 2023 - Goethe Institut, in collaboration with the CRM (Centro di Ricerche Musicali) in July 2023.
Intermediaciones X - Video Art and Experimental Video Showcase - Medellin, Columbia - September 12th-15th 2023
ACMC - Australasian Computer Music Conference - ElectroMUSE Concert Series, 9-11th October 2023, University of New England, Sydney.
MANTIS FESTIVAL - University of Manchester, UK 28th-29th October 2023
The Oceana soundscape was created by transforming a 2 minute sample of Orca and Ross Seal calls into 61 different sounds to create an imaginary world with the visuals created by layering and transforming fourteen of my paintings.
I enjoy bringing attention to the importance, fragility and beauty of the natural world through creations of magical soundscapes. I am fascinated by how the reduction of anthropogenic noise pollution, a positive side effect of the global Covid lockdowns, made it possible once more for sea creatures to communicate and thrive.
So I was delighted to be chosen to take part in the Polar Sounds project - a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) who made the original sound recording of the Killer Whales and Ross Seals in the Antarctic. The aims of the project was to highlight the soundscapes of the Antartica and the importance of sound communication between the animals and how it is affected by climate change.
Here is the original audio sample:
This is the Oceana soundscape created by transforming this sample into 61 sounds:
Oceana begins in the depths of the water, submerged with pulsing sonar like sounds, building to rushing water and long haunting calls. (Original audio of the Orca and Ross Seals is heard at 1:15). More harmonious calls are heard before moving into a distant almost birdlike section. Strange noises of wailing and deep granular sounds move through the ocean. A storm builds and the turmoil leads to a dramatic climax which suddenly releases. Back down into the deepest part of the ocean, we are immersed in powerful rushing moaning sounds that dominate the seascape. Slowly rising up through the layers of the ocean, we are left gently floating into the wild blue yonder.
“Poetry in Sound” - J. BARRADELL
“Mesmerising” - M. THOMAS
“I really did feel like I was watching an underwater scene that was calming and curious. Later in the piece it was as if the sun came out as we surfaced.
Then the dawn. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen.” - Tracy Wilkinson
The Aims of the Polar Sounds Project
At the ends of the Earth, life thrives despite extreme conditions. But climate change is having a particularly dramatic impact on the polar environment and ecosystem.
Polar Sounds is designed to draw attention to these endangered soundscapes, combining scientific data and artistic perspectives to highlight the need to preserve these sounds - and what they represent - before it’s too late.
Killer whale and Ross seals - The Creative Process
Original sound recorded by: Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research
About the recording:
In the Southern Ocean, three killer whale ecotypes co-exist which are specialized on different prey species and vary slightly in their visual appearance. Killer whales, also called Orcas, produce a variety of vocalizations, for example whistles, pulsed calls and echolocation clicks. In the sound snippet you hear lots of calls and mainly pulsed calls.
Reimagined sound by: Amanda Stuart
Title of reimagined sound: Oceana - The underwater world of Orca and Ross
About the reimagined sound:
The Polar Sounds project is a great opportunity to both literally share and develop an augmented reality of the wonderful sounds of the Antarctic. It inspired me to create my imaginary sub-seascape: Oceana - The Underwater World of Orca and Ross. I enjoy bringing attention to the importance, fragility and beauty of the natural world through creations of magical soundscapes and enhancing sounds of the real world. I am fascinated by how the reduction of anthropogenic noise pollution, a positive side effect of the global Covid lockdowns, made it possible once more for sea creatures to communicate and thrive.
The two minute field recording I chose was a mixture of Killer Whale and Ross Seal sounds - (whistles, pulsed calls and echolocation clicks) recorded with hydrophones in the Antarctic. I hoped this mixture of pitched and percussive sounds would allow me to take the listener on a journey through a believable, imaginary seascape. I knew immediately that if it was possible, I would create the piece from just this one sample and include the field recording in its original form, creating an otherworldly augmented polyphony, juxtaposing fact and fiction. It was important to me that the sounds all had an organic connection to one another and unity by sharing the same source.
To begin with I time stretched the 2 minute field recording to 32 minutes, slowing the speed and lowering the pitch of the sample. Reversing the original sample didn’t produce the desired effect, so was not used. In developing the piece I explored many transformations and effects, searching for sounds that would belong in my imaginary world, rejecting those that for instance were too electronic, rhythmical or pitch based.
After hours of experimenting I had 61 different sounds grouped according to their character, labeling them, Low pitched, deep, massive, atmospheric, wild, washing machines, wash high, wash steady, monster crunches, random rhythm bells, raindrops/bubbles, distant, rhythmic clacks/high birds, swoops/crazy, pitched high, pitched low twang, sliding pitch, drop. Five different reverbs were used to create atmosphere and a sense of depth and distance.
Now I had my inspiring sound palette, I started to paint my imaginary seascape. I wanted to begin the piece with the original field recording with just a bit of reverb and a panning effect, to give it depth and movement to identify the original sample and develop the piece from that point. However it soon became clear that an immersive, mysterious world made for a more gripping introduction, from which the Killer Whale and Ross Seal sounds in the original field recording would emerge. The original sample fades into the seascape at 1:15, crescendos to 1:27 and then fades out by 2:04. It also can be heard at 2:35 as part of the texture until around 3:05.
Fantastic to see where the Killer Whale and Ross Seal sample was recorded!
