Spectral Chasings (2023)
Crackling echoes of micro sea insects infiltrate the water tower in Brønshøj, in Spectral Chasings.
You are invited to quieten down and step into the darkness, to become encircled by zooplankton, specifically copepods ….perhaps better known as water fleas.
These tiny beings are practically invisible to the naked eye when singled out, yet they live almost everywhere in the oceans in numbers too vast to count - inhabiting the seas in monstrous swarms that can be seen from satellites. They are odd and mysterious creatures.
Fierce and strong microscopic individuals who migrate vertically in the oceanic currents.
This abstract and intimate sound/light performance pays tribute to their bubbly, ghost-like existence; chasing our eerie cross-species human~flea connections with electro-acoustic reveries and flickering beams.
The Spectral Chasings universe is devised in close collaboration with the Scottish Association of Marine Science and informed by breakthrough research into zooplankton’s perception of light, actual underwater recordings of copepods and eco-queer speculations.
Art Direction: Maria Brænder
Performers: Brænder & Claus Otto
Sound: John Lemke
Light: Sofia Ivarsson
Costume: Charlotte Bodil Hermansen
Supported by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Scottish Association of Marine Science and Brønshøj Vandtårn.
Special thanks to: Dr. Kim Last, Saskia Kühn, Paasja Luna, Dr. Laura Bissell & Prof. Alistair MacDonald
Microscope imagery: Calanus-finmarchicus (Copepod) - Bjørn Henrik Hansen, Senior Researcher at SINTEF Ocean.
Photographs by Lukas Bukoven (image of tower by Lemke)