Silent seas run deep

"The idea was the use of the sound of the seismic airgun as a conversation with the life of the sea. I have used a process of sonification of a painting that I did, which I imagined the beautiful colours of the sea bed. This sonification was to change the image into a sound representation of the image. This created unusual clicking, which made me think of the conversations of dolphins. I have also used a sound of a groan from a plane in flight, this reminded me of the whale conversation.

"Overall, I think it is a reply to the seismic airgun, perhaps a request for silence, not to interrupt the idea that the sea is silent. In the end the creatures leave the space, just the seismic airgun remains. Perhaps this suggests loss, as we explore the seabed with out intention of extracting resources, with little though as to the environmental consequences. Perhaps a lament by the sea, as it tried to tell its story?"

Seismic airgun reimagined by Jon Ogara.

Part of 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). Explore the project in full at http://citiesandmemory.com/polar-sounds.