Deep Listening 1.0
Gate’ Gate’ Gate’ | Andrei Jewell
These are unique whale sonar recorded with a hydrophone. The audio recordings have been played back through an oscillocope to give a waveform readout as a visualisation of whale calls.
Drawing inspiration from these readings the process embedded in this seascape is a depiction of whale and dolphin calls, representing a section of each sonar-call with each individual line. Painted in by the use of light sensitive ultraviolet ink the stacked line work is visible only with the use of a black light. The process reveals what I term as a ‘sonar tattoo’, much like a concealed forensic code, which has been invisibly embedded into the artwork.
As a conceptual overlay of a figurative work, the aggregated and hidden line-wave pattern is an homage to the endangered whale, as many of the species appear to be rapidly disappearing in number and fading from the natural world with their status now viewed as a threatened species.
In many indigenous cultures, such as the great southern pacific navigators; the polynesian sea farers, the whale is held as a sacred animal totem. Whales are seen as symbols of power and strength, representing abundance, wealth, and good fortune. They are often seen as protectors and guardians, guiding sailors to safety and providing physical assistance in times of need.
The depicted sonar waves embedded in the seascape have been grouped from bottom to top in seven groups of three. Each group reference the seven atmospheres of the ocean’s depths (see list below). The use of light sensitive ultraviolet ink for each line has been placed symbolically within the picture’s section of ocean. A further reference to that which is present below the ocean’s surface but hidden from human perception, both visibly and audibly.
The audio component here features a variety of sonar emitting sea mammals from whales to dolphins recorded at various depths and filtered within a specific bandwidth for the oscilloscope readings. The hydrophone sonar recordings have thus formed the basis for the creation of a series of original compositions with the collaboration of sound producer and composer Darshan Atmosphere and further layered over with additional hydrophone recordings {collated & remixed by Andrei Jewell}.
See The Crystal Cove original soundtrack linked below.
To the native Maori culture of my former homeland, Aotearoa - New Zealand, the whale song represents a healing resonant frequency that emanates from the ocean’s depths right up to the mountain tops of the land, whereby the whale’s sonar-song acts as a balancing force for Papatuanuku, also known as mother nature or Gaia.
The work’s title Gate’ Gate’ Gate’ is a term from the Pali language used in Buddhism meaning: ‘‘Gone, gone, gone to the other shore beyond‘‘, referencing the supreme state of spiritual liberation, whereby the process of one’s individuated limited self-identity is transcended, completing the cycles of transmigration.
‘The intention within the work is that it can be read in multiple ways, essentially towards the attention of subtler states of being. The wave generated readouts of the whale sonar embedded in the work are in simple terms, representative of sound and light arising as perception within the mind, ultimately receding back into a luminous emptiness which the zen tradition describes as ‘shunyata’. The work plays on the notions of appearance and disappearance, the ephemera and impermanence of the phenomenal world. Various philosophies have termed this as ‘‘the dream field‘‘ which many indigenous people simply describe as: ‘The Dreaming’.
~ Andrei Jewell 2024
The seven sub aquatic ocean layers
Epipelagic: 0 - 200 metres
Mesopelagic: 200 - 1000 metres
Bathypelagic: 1000 - 4000 metres
Abyssopelagic: 4000 - 6000 metres
Hadopelagic: 6000 - 11,000 metres
Demersal: The ocean floor zone of any depth
Benthic: The lowest zone of any ocean