The Installation

It’s Always Ourselves We Find in the Sea invites visitors into a contemplative space, a quiet, peaceful temple to water, within which the soundscape exists. Listeners enter and explore the space in their own time, letting the sounds wash over them, experiencing the stories and musical motifs as they build and gather then subside like the tide.

Taking a cue both from UNESCO’s Ocean Literacy initiative and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life Below Water – It’s Always Ourselves We Find in the Sea offers visitors an opportunity to consider their relationship with water, and to step back out into the world with an altered perspective on its value and cultural significance.

The sculptural centre-piece of the installation hangs above a reflecting pool, gently pulsing in concert with the soundscape. Every few minutes a drip falls from the icicle, disturbing the water below.

The soundscape is a looping, 30 minute experience, divided into two parts:

Part One

A Call To Water
10 minutes

This section explores our human relationship with anthropomorphised Water – throughout the history of our species and all across the globe, humankind has petitioned the deities of the sky and the sea for the benediction of rain and for deliverance from natural disasters.

Part Two

The Water Circle
20 minutes

Water is crucial for all life on earth to exist and thrive. In this part, we witness the storm’s deluge on the land, water cascading in streams, then rivers and finally to the sea. The beauty and mystery of the oceans culminates in the process of evaporation and the creation of clouds, which continue the eternal cycle of water.