“A Water Records” is a dialectical study examining humanity’s relentless tendency to destroy for consumption and how this process impacts our environment, both natural and artificial.

If the other projects focus on observing and reflecting our contemporary space, with the project “Water Records,” I aim to introduce “memories” of our cultural past into our current experience.

I am interested in working at sites where culturally significant heritage has been exposed due to extreme natural phenomena. Events such as severe tides, combined with rising sea levels and further aggravated by localized coastal erosion, have led to the loss of land. This situation has been compounded by unsustainable human activities including farming, industrialization, overdevelopment, and mineral resource extraction.

I would like to create a series of sonic installations that are thoughtfully integrated into these sites. This will involve extensive research, observation, and careful study of the environmental conditions specific to each location.

In areas of archaeological or historical significance—such as the intertidal zones found alongside current flood walls and tidal breaks, or low-lying estuarine islands and barrier islands—coastal and fluvial communities, fish markets, oyster farms, and early human activities thrived for centuries. However, these environments were rapidly overtaxed by the arrival of humans, followed by European colonists, industrialization, and large agricultural projects. Today, they face extensive irresponsible development, leading to significant environmental destruction and economic neglect. These regions have often been considered “wastelands,” which has contributed to the lack of attention they receive.

This long-lost cultural heritage is currently being uncovered, surprising even longtime local residents. However, it is almost immediately at risk of being erased by the extreme natural events that revealed it, as well as the unchecked sea level rises experienced around the world today. These rising seas are affecting a wide variety of people, including the citizens of the Maldives, who are actively planning an exit strategy to relocate their entire society from their low-lying coral islands.

In this project, I am interested in exploring the abstract inconsistencies of time, particularly as they are perceived in the gap between the western concept of “current time” and the broader framework of “All of the Times.” This involves examining the African understanding of layered times, which is reflected in the religious mythologies of Vodoo, Candomblé, and Santería, as well as in the stories and myths found throughout the diasporic African communities in the Americas.

The focus here is on the intersection of our current societal attitudes toward nature, the human impact on climate, and humanity’s insatiable demand for resources. This intersects with the concept of “folded time” and raises important questions about the sustainability of our socio-economic interactions with the planet.

If the present moment compels us to focus solely on what is happening right now and to consider only our immediate future, how would we feel if we were constantly reminded of the repercussions of our current actions all the way into the distant future? Additionally, how would we react if we were surrounded by the echoes of past decisions—those that should have faded with time but are now ever-present? These are the stories from our distant past that continue to influence our present experiences.