OUT OF FIELD

Underwater soundscapes – Art Residency Chateau Ephemere – Poissy (France)

Immersive Sound Installation – Listening to the Invisible

This immersive sound installation explores the boundaries between sound art, land art, and experimental music, inviting us to «listen to nature» in the midst of climate change and a shared global sense of uncertainty. Developed during a residency at Château Éphémère (France), the work uses hydrophones to capture the subtle, often inaudible world of underwater soundscapes in the Seine River around Poissy

Through field recordings at various times and locations, the project reveals a hidden acoustic world: aquatic life, water friction, passing boats, dams from within, and the filtered echoes of human activity. These micro-sounds compose a sonic narrative that reflects on our relationship with the environment and the act of deep listening as a form of contemplation.

The resulting sound map is accessible via My City My Sounds, a free mobile app developed by ZKM. It allows users to geolocate and explore underwater soundscapes through immersive soundwalks, tracing paths and listening at specific points—like revealing the «off-screen» world in cinema, where sound evokes what remains unseen.

SOUND MAP

To listen the Sound walk click here

A sound walk is available through the My City My Sounds app, developed by the museum ZKM – Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (Karlsruhe) and you can listen to the recordings of underwater sounds along a walk designed on the river bank .

POISSY – UNDERWATER SOUND WALK

Out Of Field

Seine River Underwater Soundscapes

Out Of Field - Underwater wood sounds (credit)
Out Of Field - Underwater friction(credit)
Out Of Field - Underwater friction, movements(credit)
Out Of Field - Underwater animals, aquatic life(credit)
Out Of Field - River flow, aquatic life(credit)
Out Of Field - Wood underwater, aquatic life(credit)
Out Of Field - Boats, aquatic life(credit)
Out Of Field - Boats, aquatic life(credit)
Out Of Field - Boats, aquatic life(credit)
Out Of Field - Bridge, Boats(credit)
Out Of Field - Waves(credit)
Out Of Field - Water textures(credit)
Out Of Field - Water textures(credit)
Out Of Field - Underwater animal sounds(credit)
Out Of Field - Bridge, Animal Sounds(credit)
Out Of Field - Water Insects, textures, boats(credit)
Out Of Field - Animal Sounds, bridge(credit)
Out Of Field - Water rhythm(credit)
Out Of Field - Poissy Dam(credit)
NICOLAS MELMANN OUT OF FIELD PROJECT SUPPORTED BY CHATEAU EPHEMERE Fabrique Sonore et Númerique
ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe