Karsten Schuhl - Notes from the Sea Floor

Notes from the Sea Floor

The audiovisual installation brings the unknown soundscapes of the world's oceans to life in the Gasometer Oberhausen, one of Europe's most extraordinary exhibition venues. The new exhibition "Planet Ocean" opened on 15 March 2024, shedding light on the beauty, significance, and threat humans pose to the oceans. This vast, diverse, beautiful, and often alien world can be discovered until 30 December 2024.

Right in the centre, at the heart of the gasometer, awaits the light and sound installation 'Notes from the Sea Floor'. A cylindrical spatial sculpture, inside which visitors are taken on a sound journey across the oceans: from the mouth of the Rhine through the Atlantic and Pacific to the Antarctic. A journey into the unknown and multi-layered world of sound: the calls of seals, the songs of whales, the whistles and clicks of hunting dolphins, and the crackling and popping of tiny crustaceans can be heard from the largest and most sonorous habitat on earth, as can the sounds of ocean currents and the cracking and creaking of ice.

It's loud under the surface of the ocean. And has been for millions of years. Almost all sea creatures contribute to the polyphonic chorus of the underwater world with their sound signatures. Sound dominates underwater. It is the light of the oceans. It illuminates the depths of the seas for the animals. They use sound in the same way that humans use light to view their surroundings. Sound is vital for marine life. Humans' rapidly increasing noise pollution of the oceans poses an existential threat to the habitats within. Habitats which need to be discovered acoustically and protected before they fall silent.

Field recording and composition: Chris Watson

Spatial sound design and programming: Tony Myatt

Visual concept and design: Theresa Baumgartner

Artistic production and development: Verena Bachl

Technical design and planning: Karsten Schuhl

Executive Producers: Diana Schniedermeier, Ina Krüger

Drywall planning and installation: Bauunternehmung J. Brinkmann GmbH

Images: Michael Krautter & www.nielinger.de for Bauunternehmung J. Brinkmann GmbH

A production of OCEANS21 gGmbH
Commissioned by Gasometer Oberhausen GmbH

Within the centre of the Gasometer, a 14-meter-diameter circular room was built to house the audiovisual installation "Notes from the Sea Floor." Visitors can discover the sonic journey in a space separated from the large outer exhibition and take some respite from the ocean's sound for a 15-minute show.