Cetacean Sound Recording Project

The recordings reveal an acoustic world that normally remains beyond direct human perception—from sustained low-frequency calls to rapid, high-frequency echolocation clicks. These sounds are not only research material; they reveal how cetaceans perceive their surroundings, locate one another and maintain relationships within an environment where visibility is limited.

From Recording to Composition

The collected recordings became the foundation for a series of sound compositions. Rather than treating cetacean voices as atmospheric material, the works approach their calls, rhythms and frequency patterns as forms of non-human sonic communication.

Human instruments enter into a responsive relationship with the recordings. They neither speak on behalf of the animals nor attempt to imitate them. Instead, the compositions create space between different forms of sonic life, treating music as an exercise in listening across species.

The resulting works premiered in the exhibition Ocean Oasis in 2024.

Listening Beyond the Human

The project asks not only what whales and dolphins sound like, but whether humans can temporarily step outside an anthropocentric position of perception.

Beneath the ocean’s surface, sound becomes a medium of orientation, distance, relationship and survival. Through underwater recording, listening becomes more than a tool for studying another species; it becomes a way of reconsidering the distance between human life and the lives of the ocean.