Stijn Demeulenaere - Zijlijn

You can often hear things from a longer distance underwater than you can see them. Especially in the North Sea, where you can hardly see further than a handful of meters. Underwater, sound travels much further than light, so you can hear for a longer distance than you can see. That's why sound is so important in maritime life. They count on sound for communication, navigation, food provision and reproduction. The underwater world is a world almost exclusively made of sound, a language that is mysterious to us, sometimes even falling outside our realm of understanding. But the North Sea is also the busiest in the world in terms of ships, and it's used to dig for oil, build windmill parks, and fish for food. In one way or another, there is human presence in just about every square inch of the North Sea. That presence often leaves its traces in sounds, making the North Sea and all of its activities the loudest sea in the world. In Zijlijn, artist Stijn Demeulenaere investigates the balance between the underwater sound of man and that of the sea's natural inhabitants. He made underwater recordings along the Belgian coastline and around the coast of Norway, exploring the Southern and Northern borders of the North Sea.

Zijlijn was commissioned by Concertgebouw Brugge
Production: Kunstenwerkplaats VZW
Co-production: Concertgebouw Brugge, iMAL
With : STUK - Huis voor Dans, Beeld & Geluid, Lydgalleriet Bergen
With the support of: De Vlaamse Gemeenschap, De Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie