GLASGOW.- On Sonorous Seas, the haunting exhibition by the Glasgow School of Art Graduate Mhairi Killin has opened in the Reid Gallery at The Glasgow School of Art (Scotland) today, 25 November and runs to 17 December 2022. Initially exhibited at An Tobar on the Isle of Mull, this will be its first showing on the mainland. The exhibition will be open Mon-Sat 10am – 4.30pm. Entry free.

“By transforming how we tell the narrative of the 2018 mass stranding of 118 beaked whales - a narrative embedded in the overlay of two cryptic environments, the habitats of the military and the habitats of the whales – through a partnership of science, music and art, we transform how we observe this story, and perhaps in doing so we can tell reality differently and bring an audience towards the complexity of this issue.” --Mhairi Killin

The story behind this show began with a whale carcass which came ashore in August 2018 at Traigh an t-Suidhe/Strand of the Seat, at the North end of the Isle of Iona, near Mhairi’s home. It is a story told with the voices of science, art, music and poetry, and it explores the impact of military sonar on the seas surrounding the Hebrides. On Sonorous Seas gives voice to what is not apparent beneath the beauty of the Hebridean waters. The work encourages a deeper listening to, and understanding of the sounds we may find there, and their meaning for the ecology of our seas.

In 2018, over 45 badly decomposed Cuvier’s Beaked whales washed up on the shores of several Hebridean islands. At the same time, another 23 whales were stranded on the West coast of Ireland, and scientists have been investigating this ‘unique mortality event’ in relation to the increased presence of military sonar activity in the area around Porcupine Bank, as confirmed by the Royal Navy in September 2021.

In May 2021 Mhairi spent ten days at sea with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) aboard their research vessel Silurian, during the NATO military exercise Joint Warrior: the largest tactically focused exercise in Europe. During the journey - which ranged from The Sea of Hebrides up to Cape Wrath and involved gruelling ten-hour work days - Mhairi and HWDT scientist, Becky Dudley collected sound and visual data using hydrophones and computer software. 

On Sonorous Seas is the result of this collaborative research, interrogating the power and reliance on sound as a survival tool and the impact of the legacy of military colonisation of vast areas of land in the Hebrides on the natural and cultural ecologies of the islands. To realise the final project Mhairi worked closely with both scientists and other artists.

Fascinated by what happened to the whales she reached out to other people who’d encountered them after the stranding. The skull of one particular Cuvier’s Beaked whale, which washed up at Bragar on the Isle of Lewis, is a powerful focal point in the final work. Cast silver ear bones taken from 3D scans of one of the stranded whales, create a new constellation in the gallery – mapping the positions where the whales came ashore around the islands of Iona, Mull, Coll and Tiree.

The central video piece, ‘A Constellation of Strandings’, reflects this installation and was created in collaboration with digital artist Tom deMajo (Biome Collective), with a new composition by Fergus Hall. Composed almost entirely from hydrophone recordings of orca calls, dolphin clicks and whistles, mid range active military sonar and boat engines made during Mhairi’s research trip on the Silurian, Fergus has created an accompanying soundscape across 6 movements, featuring vocals from Lea Shaw. 

Dutch-born and Mull-based poet and artist Miek Zwamborn has written a new poem as an elegy and requiem for the whales, with calligraphy by artist Susie Leiper on loose leaf papers imprinted with impressions of whale bones gathered during the stranding event.

Mhairi has produced a podcast series which explores both the research behind the project and these collaborations. All episodes will be available to listen to at listening stations in the gallery, and can also be accessed at www.onsonorousseas.com