Meditations on the Deep Sea

Public-facing portrayals of the deep sea are few and far between, causing many to feel disconnected from or fearful of deep-sea environments. On the rare occasions that these environments are presented, they are invariably saturated with political, environmental, or social narratives laden with strong preconceptions; few have had the privilege of interacting with raw footage of the deep sea. 

Meditations on the Deep Sea is an ongoing project dedicated to the creation of immersive audio-visual experiences that connect us with this unique environment through music. Led by Daniel Koestner, a composer and optical oceanographer, the project seeks to bring together a multidisciplinary team of scientists, artists, and designers to produce videos composed of minimally edited deep-sea footage accompanied by original musical scores. The work avoids narration, instead inviting audiences to reflect, marvel, and form personal connections with the deep sea through sound and high resolution imagery. Here, the first phase of the project will be presented with footage collected in the Norwegian Sea during the UiB-OceanX collaboration research cruise in August 2023, followed by a reception at Kippers Bar & Kafe USF.

Approximate runtime: 30 minutes
Limited capacity, please register!