Necrosonic Landscapes

Exploring the Transitional Realm Between Life and Death

2023

Made possible by: BioArt Laboratories and Foundation CBK Rotterdam.

With special thanks to: Elke Wenting, WUR and the Foundation for Handling & Monitoring Wildlife Collisions.

This project was exhibited during Dutch Design Week 2023 at BioArt Laboratories, and as part of The New Current in Brutus during Rotterdam Art Week 2024. 

© Jacqueline Fuijkschot @ the New Current 2024

Winner of the NVBe Award 2024: Inspiring Contribution to the Public Dialogue on Bio-ethics

Necrosonic Landscapes reveals the inseparable connection between life and death in nature. The work presents, in a sensational and innovative way, how death is an essential part of ecosystems. In doing so, it creates a direct and personal appeal to question one’s own relationship with death—a theme often avoided or ignored in general discourse. Beyond these bioethical inquiries, it also raises questions about the ethics of art itself and its boundaries.

From the jury speech by jury chair Jetske van Oosten

Explore and reflect
on the fluid transition between life and death

Carcasses are vital to flora and fauna, yet people prefer not to be confronted by death in nature. ‘Necrosonic Landscapes’ explores and reflects on the fluid transition between life and death, portraying death as an integral part of life, where the end signifies the beginning. Developed during a residency at BioArt Laboratories in Eindhoven, it continues the exploration from ‘Dead and Alive’ into an abstract representation of death.

The artistic research

Three microphones were placed inside a deer that was killed in a car accident, capturing the sounds of its decomposition and the larger animals benefiting from the carcass, like martens, foxes, and birds. The deer was placed in a hoisting construction so periodic soil samples could be taken from beneath the carcass, examining the metamorphosis at the micro level. The gathered audio was transformed into a soundscape, paired with microscopic imagery, offering an immersive installation that reveals the hidden processes of life and death within and beneath the carcass.

The installation

The audiovisual installation integrates the sounds of decomposing organisms with visually captivating landscapes, creating a sensory experience that explores the complex cycle of life and death in nature.

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