The Spreewald region is often perceived as idyllic and tranquil—a contrast to the pulsating, mechanical and accelerated urban context of Berlin. However, anthropogenic influences echo in the canals, streams and floodplains of the Spreewald—concealed from our human eyes and ears above water. By inviting visitors to engage in alternative forms of sensing and listening, Sedimentary Listening diffracts the perceived serenity of the riverscapes and introduces us to the multispecies and infrastructural entanglements of the region. 

The installation features audio recordings of the Spree, captured above and below water, as it flows and diverges through manufactured canals and waterways in the Spreewald. The compositions are integrated into an art piece—an aquarium— which allows audiences to listen through the water with a hydrophone, through the glass of the aquarium with transducers, and through headphones. These overlapping modes of listening disorient usual auditory realms, and prompt reflections on the interplay of lives and…