As a conceptual artist/composer, Stef Veldhuis uses a range of approaches, disciplines, and contexts for producing innovative and original work. In his projects Music by Oceans and Sound of the North Sea, he uses data about the behaviour of various bodies of water, to write new musical compositions. His work invites the listener to consider these ecosystems with other senses.
In all our oceans, at a depth of one kilometre, some one hundred thousand probes have been suspended, to constantly collect data. The probes return to the surface once every ten days and transmit their data via satellite to a huge database. Stef Veldhuis made use of this data for his music. The result is Sound of the North Sea, a composition for string quartet, organ and piano, based on data about the temperature and the cod population of the North Sea. Visitors to the event Listening to the sea were able to listen to this composition, under water, to experience the effect of changes in the North Sea on the perception of music.
Photo’s: Rik van Santen
