Under the Surface (2021),
Zeno van den Broek
He/him — NL
Exhibition: Mutation
Wednesday 8 June till Sunday 19 June — Dokzaal
Opening | 17:00—23:00 (free admission)
Tue - Fri | 13:00—20:00
Sat & Sun | 10:00—20:00
Mon | closed
Natural life is subject to all kinds of invisible influences of human industry. Above the surface, but also under water, living beings are suffering from sound pollution. What if we could experience the sound pollution our shipping industry creates underwater? Under the Surface is an audiovisual installation revolving around underwater recordings in the river Waal. These recordings have been made by Frank Collas, researcher at the Radboud University Nijmegen. By creating an immersive digital environment, Under the Surface makes the relation between the natural life in the river and the sound pollution from the shipping industry tangible.
The sound world of the installation works with binaural sound and vibrating floor panel, immersing you in the rich underwater sound world, which is usually hidden for humans. The visual language of the work is rooted in frequency analysis of the sounds recorded in the Waal. The spectral characteristics of natural life in the river, and the big influence the pollution of sound has on its life, are being displayed.
By working with transducers, devices that convert energy from one form to another, the installation gives you the chance to feel the impact of the deep bass tones the ships generate. The creatures in the river don’t hear these sounds with ears, but instead feel their whole body resonate as the water in the river transduces the sound of the ships. In experiencing these vibrations, the impact of human interference on life in the river becomes relatable.
Zeno van den Broek is a Dutch composer and artist whose works investigate and unsettle the relationships between people and fabricated surroundings. He utilises audiovisual means to create site- and concept-specific works which interrogate conventional conceptions of our experience of space. Van den Broek aims to create moments of disruption, friction and possibility that activate our sense of agency and jolt us out of our habitual consumption of space towards exploration and direct experience. These moments of agency allow visitors to become active participants of van den Broek’s work and, in important ways, complete it.
Under the Surface was commissioned by Schemerlicht Festival 2021