Narrators of submersive affective atmospheres: Analysing oceanic representations through narratives of sound

Abstract

Art-science installations with a focus on marine research are a critical way that the ocean is experienced by various publics beyond the physical boundaries of the sea. Like ocean themed cinema, documentaries, music, photo exhibitions, aquariums, museums and so on they contribute to how oceans are imagined and experienced without the need to get wet. Although they can never quite replicate the ocean, they offer touching points for embodied engagement with alternative imaginaries of the sea. Mirrors is a sound installation that follows the acoustic journey of the Minke Whale as it travels from Antarctica to the coast of Namibia, which debuted in 2023 as part of an international marine biodiversity symposium. Drawing from the development and delivery of Mirrors, this paper contends that sound installations are one way that audiences can know the ocean as they uniquely capture underwater worlds and anthropogenic impacts on marine life. This paper argues that key to the success of this is being able to create narratives that can inspire oceanic imaginations through what is introduced for the first time in this paper as ‘submersive affective atmospheres’.