Jónsi: FLÓÐ | Installation : Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland

The installation, FLÓÐ (Flood), invites the viewer to enter a darkened space, surrounded by mist and an ambiguous scent. All around echo sounds originating from nature, digital processing and the human voice. The sound sequence grows and escalates, the sensation extends from the ears to the bottom of the stomach, the reverberation floods the body in waves. A streak of light in the ceiling reacts to the sound and further enhances the multi-layered perception that the process offers.

The gravitational force of the moon and the sun, together with the rotation of the earth, cause the periodic rise and fall of the ocean. As tides change, large quantities of water move toward or away from shore causing tidal currents. The tidal rhythm has been regular and predictable for millennia. Today we experience a change in sea levels, linked to factors that are all induced by ongoing global climate change: Thermal expansion, melting glaciers and the loss of earth’s major ice sheets. As a result of sea level rise, the heights of tides are also changing, reaching higher and extending further inland than in the past.