This Slovenian Artist creates gorgeous Soundscapes from Underwater Worlds

The annual Ars Electronica festival for digital art took Linz, Austria, last weekend and featured Slovenian bioartist Robertina Šebjanič in the Underworld bunker of its POSTCITY venue. She builds beautiful underwater gardens and translates them into sound, and one of them, Aurelia 1+Hz, won an Honorary Mention at the festival!

Based in Ljubljana, Robertina explores living systems through AV performances, noise/sound art, installations and interactive ambient responsive immersive environments.

Here are the pieces featured at Ars Electronica!

Time Displacement  / Chemobrionic Garden

In collaboration with Ida Hiršenfelder and Aleš Hieng, Robertina installed a series of tanks to study the relationships among hydrothermal chemistry, time and sound. The chemical reactions are monitored by cameras, which pass discolourations and deformations on to microcontrollers that in turn transform these phenomena into sound. The result is a haunting drone composition.

Aurelia 1 + Hz / Proto Viva Sonification

This aquarium, a collaboration with Slavko Glamočanin, explores the communication between jellyfish. These creatures are some of the few that are perfectly suited for the Anthropocene era, but it is still unknown how they talk to one another. They are followed by tracking systems that generate recordings, which are then mixed with loops to paint a soundscape.

We wish we could have been in Linz to see this mighty cool aquariums in person. Fortunately, some of her work is on view at The Art Laboratory here in Berlin until October 9th. Check out more of her work on her website!

Featured image and videos courtesy of the artist via Ars Electronica