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Locatie:KADOC, Vlamingenstraat 39 (Laporta Kapel)
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Accessibility:This location is accessible for people with wheelchair.
Underwater, sight is limited to often just a few meters, especially in the murky North Sea. Underwater sounds, on the other hand, travel much much further. And for this reason, marine life relies on sound for their communication, foraging and mating, through clicks, grunts and mysterious chants. Others navigate via echolocation. However, the North Sea is one of the busiest in the world, almost every inch of it knows some form of human occupation. Therefore the North Sea is also one of the loudest in the world, human sounds blanketing the whole sea floor. Noise from the countless ships, but also drilling, oil rigs, the construction of wind farms, fishing, and fish farms. This background noise disturbs the communication of marine life or even causes physical pain. Belgian sound artist Stijn Demeulenaere went to sea for a poetic exploration of the invisible soundscape under the water surface. He made underwater recordings that he incorporated into an audiovisual installation. Six speakers provide the soundtrack to a tube of nine sample containers, each holding a seawater sample from one of the locations where Demeulenaere recorded.
Good to know: The title of the installation, Zijlijn or Linea Lateralis, refers to the organ in certain fish that detects pressure variations in the water, and is connected to their hearing. This ‘linea lateralis’ evolved from the same proto-organ that our own ears evolved from.
2021
Concept, composition & recordings: Stijn Demeulenaere
Commission: Concertgebouw Brugge
Production: Kunstenwerkplaats vzw
Co-production: Concertgebouw Brugge & iMAL
In collaboration with: STUK — House for Dance, Image & Sound, Lydgalleriet Bergen, Zsenne Art Lab
Supported by: The Flemish Community & The Flemish Community Commission of the Brussels Region
Recording assistants: Anders Bibow Olsen, Kjetil Høidal, Kevin Trappeniers, Ioana Mandrescu & Julien Ortuno
Special thanks to: KADOC, KU Leuven, Dienst Cultuur KU Leuven, Flanders and Wallonia, KIKK, CCHA
This installation is part of Warm Alarm 2022.