Song of the fishes

In Western scientific discourse, fish acoustics have long been overlooked and so little is known about the exact reasons for why fish produce sound and what sounds belong to what particular fish. This composition brings together rare recordings of freshwater fish species occurring in the Netherlands, some of who are on the brink of extinction, intending to invite thought over what might lead a fish to produce sound. Might their grunts and hisses signify distress, a warning not to invade their territory, a -possibly in vain- call for a partner? Their bodies are at risk everywhere in our riverine underwater world dominated by industrialization, toxins, and traffic. In an unfolding history of extinction, will their calls be answered? Will we listen to their lamentation?

The installation is accompanied by 3D animated riverscapes based on found footage of leisure divers. The distorted images give a glimpse of the Dutch underwater riverine ecology with its peat banks, flood plains, and adopted, overgrown trash that ends up on the river floor. The generally poor visibility is translated in the abstraction of the animations, inviting you to consider the importance of other senses for those who call this habitat home.

Between No Longer and Not Yet at Zone2Source

River Garden: Fishes’ Lament was developed during my solo exhibition Between No Longer and Not Yet as a first outcome of the research project Hydroformations. The exhibition is part of a series of solo projects in which Zone2Source invites artists to use the exhibition and the park as a living laboratory for co-creation and collective research, together with the multispecies actors of the Amstelpark. In doing so, the public becomes part of both the results as well as the artist’s artistic processes through various public programmes.