Greenland’s icebergs to be turned into recordings for installation on humanity’s impact on the ocean

A new exhibition comprised of an acoustic installation made from recordings of Greenland’s icebergs will open in 2024 by artist Irish Siobhán McDonald. The exhibition is said to explore humanity’s impact on the ocean.

An expedition is being carried out by artist Siobhán McDonald and a team of scientists deploying underwater microphones in the ocean just off Greenland to record and preserve the soundscape of melting icebergs.

These microphones will record the environment every hour until 2024, when the audio will be collected and turned into a sound installation.

Siobhán McDonald explains that, “What you’re hearing in the hydrophones is a snapshot of time.”

The microphones are being deployed at various levels and temperatures to record earthquakes, landslides, wildlife, pollution and meltwater, creating an archive of the “ocean’s memory”.

The expedition will be comprised of 12 moorings in the Davis Strait, between Greenland and Canada, with five of these moorings already deployed.