A sensorial attunement of the layered mysteries of oceanic zones oscillating between positive and negative 16mm black-and-white film. Abstracted studies and sonic traces of communicating species dwelling in the intertidal and midnight zones of the Pacific Ocean. Biosonar clicks of whales and vocalizations of seals are interrupted by the sounds of tanker engines, radar pings from commercial and military ships, and the growing chorus of ocean mining. Amid the din, coral forms bleach from rising carbonic acid levels, ghostly reminders of changing ecosystems.
Notes:
Organized Forgetting contains studies of erosion, sea urchins, a newly discovered species of Siphonophore, coral, coral bleaching, and the noise pollution affecting whale and seal communication. There are some exceptional sound artists featured in this film. The first one you will hear is Yoichi Kamimura, who records the sounds of ice flows in the Pacific Ocean in Hokkaido, Japan. In his recording, you will hear the ice shelf moan and whistle with escaping oxygen, and you will hear seals under the ice sheets communicating to each other. You will also hear hydrophone recordings by Pablo Diserens where he honed in on sea urchin communication and other tide pool dwellers. The remainder of the sound you will hear is of two competing sets of sounds. Whale communication and the sounds of container ships, radar pings from military and commercial vessels, and ocean mining. With the whales, you will hear some distinct vocalizations, Low-frequency D calls that have an intense vibrational quality, and biosonar clicks where each click echoing back is where distance and direction are discerned from fast-moving fish to catch and eat, and to avoid the hulls of approaching ships. Light does not travel well under the ocean. Sound travels four times faster in water than in air, and in the deep, whales can communicate with each other from hundreds of miles away. They are acoustically oriented and are finely tuned to the sonic environment of the ocean. Their consciousness and sense of self is based on sound, not sight. I learned that whale pods have their own unique dialect of calls that calves learn from their mothers over several years. This indicates complex cultural communication in the animal world.
A way to better understand our rapidly changing climate is through sound. The hope is for a recalibration of the senses to pick up subtle changes in light and texture, to listen attentively for sounds that can draw us closer to wonder and curiosity, and to allow the sonic vibrations of communicating species to deepen appreciation and interconnectedness.