Robertina Šebjanič portrait. Photo: Aquatcene (Photo by Uros Abram. Archive of artist)

Richard Bright: Let us begin by you telling us more about your background: what is the drive behind your extended artistic research practice?

Robertina Sebjanič: My practice is driven by my research enthusiasm and passion for discovery. I love to explore natural environments and meeting their inhabitants. I use an interdisciplinary approach in my artistic expression, so I collaborate most of the time with marine scientists, physicists, philosophers and other artists to contextualise and experiment in situ during field trips and in vitro when I am in the labs.

In my practice, I like to begin with questions to which we do not yet have the answers. I usually pitch a specific theme to my colleagues and associates of the project. I think about how to emphasise ethical awareness and accessibility of science on the one hand, and how to build a more empathetic context for multi-species ecologies to coexist in our society. I want to understand what shift would have to take place in order to redirect the focus towards a more ecological way of working for the survival of aquatic organisms.

The research practice and way of working that I have developed over the last decade have evolved organically. Having studied sculpture, I have always been interested in marine science, and looking back, I have to say that I am happy to have been able to combine my two passions – art and marine science. This is also due to perseverance, dedication and hard work, which pays off when I see the positive reactions from the public and from colleagues and collaborators. I hope that my work will help the public to look/hear/see/touch/feel/smell the stories being told and encourage them to look beyond our human perception.

RB: What is the underlying focus of your work?

RS: In my work I have started to use the word “aquaforming”, which in my vocabulary describes the state of waters in the Anthropocene era: an era in which humankind is changing the basic composition of aquatic habitats. Human presence can be observed both at the macro- and nanoscale (chemical pollutants, pharmaceutical pollution, microplastics, etc…). In 2016 I developed the sound art project in which I recorded the sounds of underwater environments. I gave it the title “Aquatocene”, which refers to underwater noise pollution. I coined both terms because I couldn’t find any existing terminology related to bodies of water that went beyond terraforming.

RB: Have there been any particular influences to your ideas and work?

RS: My main inspiration is the landscape and its inhabitants – terrestrial or aquatic. I think it’s important that we are exposed to different natural elements as much as possible. Only then we can keep our mind open for new insights and developing new concepts.

I love to read, and the following list includes some of the authors who have broadened my horizons: Vinciane Despret, Donna Harraway, Ursula K. Le Guin, Stefan Helmreich, Jakob Johann von Uexküll, Alexander von Humboldt, María Antonia González Valerio, Rosi Braidotti, Sylvia Earle, María Puig de la Bellacasa, Pascal Quignard, Brandon LaBelle, Timothy Morton and many more. I have also been inspired by excellent marine biologists like Dr. Silvie Earle and to not forget to mention my long years collaborator / advisor dr. Alenka Malej on the topic of oceanography, and ecology.

Jean Painlevé, one of the great underwater filmmakers, is also a great inspiration, with animals and creatures from the underwater world being the main protagonists of his films; I like to exchange, discuss and explore with inspiring curators such as Blanca de la Torre, my collaborators in project Traveling Plant (https://www.olats.org/the-traveling-plant/)  Annick Bureaud, Tatiana Kourochkina, Marta de Menezes, Claudia Schnugg, and many others.

RB: What exhibitions/projects are you currently working on?

RS: This year seems to be an exciting one, full of new adventures. I have just returned from a very inspiring Art Science journey in the Galapagos, where I was invited by the Quo Arist Foundation to be a part of this amazing group of artists, scientists, nature explorers and thinkers. As this is also a year after the slow post-Covid pace, I feel like a lot is going on – there are loads of events, exhibitions and talks.

Field recording on Galapagos Islands 2022 (photo by Jorge Carrión)

I recently presented my new research work Echinoidea future – Adriatic sensing, developed within the EU STARTS4water platform, at the Ars Electronica festival in Linz. The work presents research carried out during my residency at the UR Institute in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on the Adriatic coast, and reflects the current situation of changes caused mainly by human presence (tourist impact, waste residues, low oxygen-hypoxia) and industrialisation, such as maritime traffic and the like in the southern Adriatic.

Now in November, I will present my new sound work Line | +1233m –1233m, which rises vertically above sea level from the depths of the sea, representing several years of my oeuvre. The sound work and the installation combine a cross-section of the sea’s influence in a vertical band deep below and above the horizon.

As you can see and read, my inspiration, interest, and thoughts are still near the ocean, just above and mostly below the waves, where there are many more mysteries to discover, unexplored spaces and creatures from which we can gain profound knowledge. 

Portfolio presentation of 4 projects by Robertina Šebjanič

RB: Your work Aquatocene / The subaquatic quest for serenity investigates the phenomenon of underwater noise pollution created by humankind in the seas and oceans. Can you say more about this?

Aquatocene by Robertina Sebjanic (photo by Maria Eugenia Serrano Diez)

Aquatocene / Subaquatic quest for serenity from Robertina Sebjanic on Vimeo.

RS: For a long time, I was interested/fascinated and was waiting for the right moment to enter and explore the otherworldly, unknown and inhospitable (deep) aquatic environments from which life emerged.  Our own physical limitations, as well as the limits of the technology we use for our investigations, might well be the reasons why we are still not familiar with the vivid soundscapes of underwater worlds. Sound is the principal and most important mode of communication, a means of sensory orientation, for marine life: the underwater acoustic environment is as rich and colourful as the terrestrial world.

The project Aquatocene / Subaquatic quest for serenity is an ongoing project since 2016t. The core of the project are field recordings that I gathered using a hydrophone in different locations (mostly coastal regions) of oceans and seas. The listeners of my compositions are confronted with the overwhelming human impact on the bioacoustics of the underwater habitats whilst also given the opportunity to experience the sounds of marine life and natural aquatic acoustics. During the concerts, the audience is immersed in my personal interpretation of recorded soundscapes, a sonic experience mixing many specific, yet different subaquatic locations.

Compositions to listen on

https://robertina.bandcamp.com/album/aquatocene-subaquatic-quest-for-serenity

aquatocene

RB: Can you say something about your work, AquA(l)formings – Interweaving the Subaqueous, which was a collaboration with Sofia Crespo and Feileacan McCormick.

AquA(I)formings. Robertina Šebjanič, Sofia Crespo, Feileacan McCormick (Photo: NejcKetis. Archive: Kino Šiška)

AquA(I)formings – Interweaving the Subaqueous by Robertina Šebjanič, Sofia Crespo and Feileacan McCormick from Robertina Sebjanic on Vimeo. (A short introduction into the work).

RS: My new collaborations with excellent artists Sofia Crespo, Feileacan McCormick with whom we had decided to work on a case study of the extinction of Pinna Nobilis, a fen shelf in the Adriatic sea. On the technical end, we combined remote sensing data from the last 30 years that shows the changes in temperature, salinity, TDS at Northern Adriatic and combined it with real-time research data that we gathered in the summer of 2021. With the use of machine learning /artificial intelligence (AI) technology, remote sensing technologies (data from EU Copernicus) and real-time data.

So, this kind of way of using data for the better benefit of explaining the storytelling I think is a great use of it. With the project, we would like to present the large-scale changes in the marine environment caused by human presence and try to imagine how the new conditions (rising sea levels and water temperatures, new chemical composition …) are reflected in its inhabitants.

Aquaformations. Robertina Sebjanic, Sofia Crespo, Feileacan McCormick (photo: NejcKetis)

RB: You describe your work, Co_Sonic 1884 km², as an “audio/visual-poetic reflection and an AI-powered soundscape that tells the story of (co)existence between river environments and their inhabitants”. Can you say more about this?

RS: I would invite the readers to immerse in the 15 min video/ audio work that is available here, without too much talk about it and then read the description of the artwork:

CO-SONIC 1884km2 variation 2 from Robertina Sebjanic on Vimeo.

Throughout history, the Ljubljanica river – the main protagonist of my project, has wormed its way below and above the surface. Unaware that they are the same river, people gave 7 different names to each of the above-ground parts of the river.

The audio/visual Co_Sonic 1884 km² shows the river’s body through the prism of its integral whole, with the vivid biodiversity that inhabits it. Rivers are dynamic bodies of water, constantly changing and shaping their beds. These changes occur on a space/time scale that is more easily perceived by the smaller creatures living on or near the riverbed than by humans.

This shift in perception of the river basin of Ljubljanica – including its karst upper reaches, the river itself, and its intermittent lakes – in its completeness is made possible by the very substance of water, both as a liquid that flows and as a biotope for different species of fish or olms. Just as the water moves, huchen, cactus roach, souffia, grayling and trout migrate along the river’s course. Olms, though normally confined to the underground karst caves, are sometimes brought to the surface by floods. Floods play an important role in the water cycle, providing food for organisms living underground. From the perspective of the Other, therefore, it is always the same waterway.

CO_sonic1884km2 by Robertina Šebjanič (field trip photo by Miha Godec)

Co-sonic1884km2 by Robertina Šebjanič

Co-sonic1884km2 by Robertina Šebjanič

Through the use of sounds and images of the (co)habitation of different lifeforms in a range of river environments, both above and below the water, this project not only tells stories about the non-human inhabitants of these environments but also, more importantly, alerts us to the many ways in which humans affect aquatic environments, be it through riverbed regulation, navigation, regulation of biodiversity or exploitation of their natural resources. Co_sonic 1884 km2 presents us with a snapshot of the present time, when rivers around the world are losing their vitality as a result of human activity. The project also explores the concept of deep time and gives visitors an understanding of how the environment has developed over the ages, in ways that go far beyond the ecosystems we know today. It opens our eyes and prompts us to develop empathy towards non-human lifeforms, thereby changing our attitude to ecosystems, with a view to ensure their sustainability far into the future.

RB: Can you say something about your work, ATLANTIC TALES: SELACHOPHILIA: CETORHINUS MAXIMUS – LIMARIA HIANS?

RS: Here is a 7 min sound (video detail from the whole 42 min long sound work:

ATLANTIC TALES: SELACHOPHILIA: CETORHINUS MAXIMUS – LIMARIA HIANS by Robertina Šebjanič
|| 7min fragment from 42min sound work from Robertina Sebjanic on Vimeo.

Atlantic Tales intertwine mythology and science and speak about the complexity of tackling challenges in the Anthropocene era. The narrative talks of the depths of the waters and the dark projections for the future if man’s (destructive) footprint continues to grow, as has been the trend in recent decades. The seas and oceans are changing rapidly, and our knowledge about their changes, which are often the result of human intervention, is expanding more slowly and is often wrapped in the long-established separation and distinction between the impact of human activity on land and at sea.

How do the oceans feel the actions of man, how do his actions affect the inhabitants of the oceans and seas, and what could the beings living in them tell us about this if we understood or wanted to understand them?

The protagonists of the story are the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and the flame shell (Limaria hians), a small endemic species, both of which the author encountered during her stay on the research science ship RV Celtic Explorer on an expedition in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Atlantic Tales by Robertina Šebjanič (Photo: Ales Rosa)

Atlantic Tales by Robertina Šebjanič (Photo: Ales Rosa)

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https://robertina.net/

All images copyright and courtesy of Robertina Sebjanič

Art, Consciousness, Creativity, Ecology, Mind, Nature, Science, Water