A Sámi diver hunts for whale song in a homemade submarine. Poetry, not popcorn.
Acoustic Ocean is an artistic exploration of the sonic ecology of marine life in the North Atlantic. Located on the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, the video centers on the performance of a marine-biologist diver who is using a life-size model of a submersible equipped with all sorts of hydrophones and recording devices. In this science-fictional quest, her task is to sense the submarine space for acoustic and bioluminescent forms of expression.
Sound
Hydrophone recordings transform ocean into alien cathedral.
Cinematography
Lofoten landscapes that make you shiver through the screen.
Director
Ursula Biemann
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Biemann's work emerges from the Sámi concept of 'eallin', where land, water and sound form interconnected knowledge systems. The submarine becomes decolonial technology.
The 18-minute runtime is deliberate—mirroring whale song cycles and resisting documentary's colonial impulse to 'capture' and explain.
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