Dark Oceanography: A creative collaboration between climate science & music
A new experimental music work, Dark Oceanography, will premiere at the Monash University Performing Arts Centres on Sunday 27 July, immersing audiences in the swirling dynamics of ocean eddies and the future impacts of climate change beneath the surface of the sea.
Created by The Sound Collectors Lab in partnership with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century, the work is a collaboration between leading percussionists, composers, music technologists and climate scientists. It uses ocean model output from Australia’s ACCESS-OM2 climate model to sonify the movements of ocean currents and eddies, drawing listeners into the deep ocean processes that influence our climate and shape weather patterns across the globe.
Salon discussion: Monday 21 July, 12:30pm, Monash University (The Monash Club). Register for this free event here.
Premiere performance: Sunday 27 July, 3:00pm, Monash University Performing Arts Centre. Buy tickets here.
Performed by a trio of percussionists interacting with multi-channel spatialised electronic sound, Dark Oceanography invites audiences to listen to climate change, transforming scientific data into an artistic experience that stirs both thought and emotion. The data used in the work is drawn from the ACCESS-OM2 model at eddy-resolving resolution, with Lagrangian tracking following the motion of ocean particles from the East Australian Current through to the Southern Ocean. Each performance incorporates data from new locations, placing local climate impacts at the heart of the sonic experience.
Dr Navid Constantinou, a physical oceanographer at the University of Melbourne and a Chief Investigator with 21st Century Weather, worked alongside the artists to identify and process the scientific data that underpins the score.
Ahead of the premiere, a public salon event will be held at Monash University’s Clayton campus on Monday 21 July at 12:30pm. Featuring percussionist and project lead Dr Louise Devenish, composer Kate Milligan, music technologist Aaron Wyatt, and research consultant Dr Navid Constantinou, the discussion will explore how scientific and artistic processes intertwined to shape this creative work. This free, informal catered event is open to researchers, musicians, artists, students and anyone curious about climate, weather and the power of sound.
To register for the free salon discussion, please follow this link.
To buy tickets to the premiere performance of Dark Oceanography, please visit: https://www.monash.edu/performing-arts-centres/event/kate-milligan-dark-oceanography/
Discounted prices are available for concession card holders, Monash staff, students, and alumni, and Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people through MobTix.
This article was created using a combination of human and artificial intelligence.