Back to the Ocean

Electroacoustic Composition //2022-23
16-channel (3rd Order Ambisonics)
12’03”



Back to the Ocean explores our human’s bodily and spiritual connection with the ocean. Inspired by a drowning experience in the open waters of Saipan, the composition captures the ineffable sensation of belonging and boundlessness that emerged as consciousness teetered on the edge, reminiscent of returning to the womb, an experience of "oceanic feeling."

The composition predominantly utilises sound recordings from ocean water and the vaginal region, captured with hydrophones and recorders. This sonic narrative unfolds in three stages: immersion, deconstruction, and rebirth. The first stage explores the underwater soundscape, while the second deconstructs the body through granulated sounds, culminating in a bubbling sonic bath. The third stage conveys the ineffable sense of boundlessness akin to a fetus.

Back to the Ocean responds to the global climate crisis and highlights the very fact that we ARE the ocean, in essence. Our human existence is but a fleeting manifestation of the ocean itself: we originate from its depths, and ultimately, our physical remnants will merge back into it, thus completing the eternal cycle. Back to the Ocean presents the experience of returning to the vast womb of our mother ocean.



ZHAO JIAING 赵 嘉旌
Composer, Sound Designer, interdisciplinary Artist
jiajingzhao96(at)gmail(dot)com