Meet the artist unveiling the mysteries under the water’s surface

Jana is a sound artist, underwater sound recordist and composer based in Norway with a background in mathematics, chemistry and fish ecology.

She pays particular attention to audio environments and creatures that are hard for us as humans to access, both physically and aurally – deep underwater, inside ice or in frequency ranges inaudible to our ears.

The River explores not only the beauty and importance of underwater sound but also how human-made noises can contribute to sound pollution in our waters. For Jana, the focus is always on the sound, so her installations don’t feature many visuals and instead encourage you to sit and let the sound envelop you. 

Our Digital Content Producer Imani Cottrell chats to Jana about her work as a sound artist, coming face-to-face with a bearded seal and the joy of listening underwater. 

What inspired you to create The River?

I have a long relationship with the River Thames. The first recording I did around the Thames was back in 1992 while I was studying at Goldsmiths University. I walked around the side of the river and recorded sounds, then set up several speakers in a dark space in Goldsmiths University and invited people to come in and listen to it.

It’s nice now to come back and visit so many years later. When we started to talk about this piece, I thought it would be nice to take a body of water close to the people who would visit the installation because they have a relationship with the Thames too.

I started the recordings one year ago, first around the source of the Thames and then in the upper regions. You’re dipping into something full of stories and history and you meet so many different species. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been listening to a lot.

I have a very passionate relationship with everything happening under the water’s surface, I think it’s super exciting. Often, we don’t know much about what’s right under the surface, so I’m listening to these ecosystems that are so close to us but still quite unknown.

In the Thames, there’s an enormous amount of human sound, but you can also hear underwater insects and beetles very clearly. We’re not used to listening underwater because our ears aren’t very well adapted for it.

When I was recording in the Thames, a couple of dolphins were coming up the river to Richmond. I’m really curious as to why they would go up the river when it’s so noisy, but it must mean there’s food to get.

I think if we knew what it sounded like underwater, we would pay more attention to the amount of noise we make with all the engines and boats that are so loud underwater.

What made you transition to listening underwater?

I was in the water a lot as a child, whether in a boat, swimming or on the beach. This made me curious about what was under the water’s surface and, initially, I wanted to study marine biology but I did art studies instead.

I worked with interactive sound installations, using sensors that people would step on to trigger sounds. Through all the work with sensors and programming, I came across contact microphones that are like a piezo and the basis of a hydrophone.

A piezo buzzer uses simple electrical components to make a sound and a hydrophone is a microphone that detects and records sound underwater in all directions. I started by putting hydrophones on tree branches and listening to the sounds before thinking I could put them underwater.

I did a project in Norway where I was following the meltwater of a glacier and used the hydrophones under the running water. I followed this water into the fjord and that’s where I met my first wild cod and heard it grunting.

How long have you been recording underwater?

I’ve been recording underwater in different rivers for more than 20 years. I’m continuously excited about it because there are always new things to listen to.

In the UK I was following the Coquet River in Northumberland for a project called Rivers back in 2009.

There I started to suggest that you can listen to the health of a body of water by listening to the underwater insects and beetles. I thought if I could identify the sounds of different insects, I might be able to listen to the health of the water.

I’ve also been listening to coral reefs for the sounds of fish and crustaceans to listen to the density of sound. I’ve listened to and compared the sounds of a less-bleached reef compared to a more-bleached reef to get a better understanding of its health.

In your years of recording have you noticed a change in the number or type of organisms you’re hearing?

I would have needed to go back and listen to the same place many times. But the stories from local people tell you how it was in the past and how it is now.

My grandad in the south of Norway talked about the number of fish there were in the outer Oslofjord – lots of different species and big schools of fish. Now they’re still around but there are fewer of them. When I was growing up, I didn’t see the fish he was talking about and now when I record there’s very little sound to be heard.

I’ve recorded several times in the Chana District in Thailand and it has incredible biodiversity, you can hear lots of different species of fish and crustaceans. It used to be a fish stop for big trawlers and was almost empty of fish 30 years ago.

However, after 30 years of coral work, stopping extreme fishing and focusing on local fishing, the sounds underwater are audible again. It’s good to hear a lively environment that’s rich in biodiversity. 

When it comes to your process, do you search for a specific sound or are you led by what you hear?

It depends on the project. Here we had a specific route to follow with the river but I’m not listening for anything specific. I’m listening and reacting to what I hear. I used two or three hydrophones to listen for this project.

I’m always actively listening to what’s there rather than looking for the sounds of a specific species.

How do you use the equipment to listen to sounds?

I use a recorder that has a very quiet preamp so I can hear quiet sounds without adding extra sound from the equipment. For The River, when I was in the shallow part of the Thames, I laid the hydrophones on the river floor.

I worked from the side of the river, but also from boats so we could go to particular places on the Thames. I don’t go underwater myself because I’d make too much noise by breathing so I use long cables.

We had a very curious seal at one point that nibbled on my hydrophone.

Where’s been your favourite place to record and what’s been the most surprising or unexpected sound?

The answer to that is that the exciting things are still coming. They’re coming all the time. It’s hard for me to say a favourite because there have been so many exciting things.

But I’ll never forget the first time I heard a wild cod grunt and that feeling.

I think the school of fish in Thailand was mind-blowing. The enormous biodiversity there with so many different species was insane.

Also, I was in Greenland recording the melting of really old ice and I’ll never forget the massive icebergs flowing past and the sounds of bearded seals.

I’d never heard it before and I was thinking, what’s this sound? I listened and slowly moved closer to where the sound was and then suddenly the sound stopped, and I looked up because my eyes were closed.

Right in front of me was this massive bearded seal. This big creature was making this tonal sound, and it was so beautiful.

I love my job! It feels so fantastic to have been able to do all this.

What do you hope people take away from The River?

I hope that it will raise curiosity. It will be unique because all of the recordings are from underwater. You become aware of how much underwater species are hearing. You can hear people speaking and aeroplane sounds from several metres into the river.

I don’t want to tell people too much about what to take away, I hope they enjoy the listening experience itself and relax into it.

In the space I’m not adding any images and it’s very low light, the sound is the material. I like drawing and the process of composing the sounds is very much like drawing in space.

It’s always very exciting to come to a new place and work with the space not against it.