Mesopelagia is an immersive audio-visual experience designed in conversation with pelagic marine ecologist Alina Wieczorek.
Through a series of scenes at scales from the macro to the sub-micro, Wieczorek’s research on echogram and environmental DNA collection is visually unpacked. The goal of this project is to communicate and aestheticize the science and technology behind this research. Scenes range from the planet-level wind and water movements that define ocean currents north of Antarctica, to the sub-microscopic fragments of DNA used in eDNA research, and the many other levels between.
Accompanying each scene is sound design and an orchestral score I crafted, inspired especially by Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antartica, that also explores ideas of scale through rhythmic subdivision and focuses on instrumentation including chamber strings, horns, and synth bass. Each scene also incorporates a processed recording of Grieg’s Ave Maris Stella (“Hail, Star of the Sea”), a work based on an ancient melody and text inspired by the the Norwegian coast Grieg grew up on that asks for celestial protection for seafarers.
This research came about from ArtSea Matchmaking 2025, a program connecting deep sea researchers and artists, and is sponsored by Oberlin College and Earth Sciences New Zealand, and has been presented at the ICES Working Group on Fisheries Acoustics, Science and Technology (WGFAST).