Beneath the Shore

Commissioned by Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, 26 June - 4 September 2021

By working in collaboration with the Leigh Marine Laboratory, Barnett gained access to numerous hours of hydrophone recordings. Placed at various locations around the Hauraki Gulf, these hydrophones record the nuanced sounds of the underwater environment – capturing the sonic reverberations of reef fish, sea urchins, dolphins, and snapping shrimp. The hydrophones also capture distant noises such as the murmur of boat engines –– a reminder of the ecological impact of human activity on the sonic ecosystems of marine life forms where sound is used to navigate and forage underwater. 

Using hydrophone recordings and audio from her own field recordings, Barnett has rearranged this material into a spatial sound composition. In the context of the exhibition, Barnett’s acousmatic composition responds to themes of movement and change. Conceived as a four-channel sonic artwork, the audio features recordings of waves that phase in and out, their pace slow and meditative akin to breathing. These sonic recordings of the ocean’s movements are paired with material from hydrophone recordings that capture the unique sounds of marine life resonating beneath the surface. Reverberating through the Dome Gallery’s space and in dialogue with the free-flowing fabrics of Salome Tanuvasa, Barnett’s sonic composition ebbs and flows, reminding us of the sea as a site of movement from one place to another, and of the distinct worlds operating above and beneath the ocean. Looking outwards and beyond the gallery’s own site, Barnett’s work hints at the existence of distant spaces and sounds beyond our own immediate environment.

This work was commissioned as part of a group exhibition, From our Beautiful Square.

From our Beautiful Square essay response by Huni Mancini here.