The Matter of the Soul is a multi-sensory installation incorporating sound, light, video and sculpture, which prompts viewers to contemplate the profound impact of climate change on the Arctic region. Evoking human empathy with the process of dispersal in the Arctic, the artwork centres around an experimental music symphony composed of four movements.
The Matter of the Soul is presented as a mixed media installation, a video installation and a performance. It has been released as an album and is available on The Matter of the Soul | Symphony from Kat Austen’s Bandcamp.
Credits
Friends of SPRI, Scott Polar Research Institute (UK); Bonhams (UK); OneOcean Expeditions (CA); Cultural Institute, University of Leeds (UK); IceAlive (UK)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS | PRESS
K. Austen, “Sounding Dispersal as a Route to Empathy with the Changing Arctic,” Leonardo Music Journal (2019) 29, 3-7.
The Matter of the Soul on BBC Three’s Free Thinking: Ice
K. Austen, “How I Made Musical Instruments from Lab Equipment to Create Empathy with the Arctic,” The Conversation (31 October 2018)
Art to create empathy with the Arctic, Article, Leeds Cultural Institute, Medium (29 November 2018)
Art to create empathy with the Arctic, Article, University of Leeds, Blog, (3 December 2018)
The Sound of Climate Change, Case Study MT.com
K. Austen, “This Fractionation of Our Being,” Soundest 3 (2019)
The Matter of the Soul on Ice Alive Blog (2019)
Detecting Tacit Knowledge, Interview in Mediapart (2019)
The Matter of the Soul | Concentration in Black Coffee & Vinyl „Ice Culture“ (2019)