You Can Touch the Water:
Submersive Art, Hydrofeminist Phenomenology and Community Engagement
By Sara Oussaiden
Abstract
This dissertation proposes Submersive Art as an original concept created off the back of my own watery encounters with Jaakko Autio’s Owla. This multi-sensory installation invited me to submerse myself within its space, crossing beyond the role of the passive viewer and becoming an active participant, intertwining with the work, and extending my understanding of self I expand upon my experience with Owla by recognising its relationship to the philosophies of Astrida Neimanis and Donna Haraway – drawing parallels between their fluid and interconnected theories based in experience: Water Embodiment, Hydrocommons and String Figure Theory. Through their writings I highlight Submersive Art’s ability to embody processes typically confined to academic methods of studying phenomena –phenomenology - whilst simultaneously showcasing philosophy as a way to articulate and draw upon the lived experiences it evokes. Neimanis and Haraway’s philosophies, with their intrinsic roots in interconnectedness and community, made me realise that to develop Submersive Art as fully rounded concept I would have to expand upon my solitary experience with Owla Which is why I then introduce another artwork with Submersive qualities that builds towards community engagement, Cooking Section’s CLIMAVORE. This project, my personal connections to it, and my more recent understandings of Submersive Art and its relations to phenomenology, have helped me recognise the network of Submersive Art spaces suspended by Cooking Sections and how they come together, strengthening relationships between people, place, community and climate on an otherwise isolated Isle of Skye.
our complex identities and multifaceted interconnectedness beyond gender, beyond species and beyond bodies. I was drawn to the accessibility of her theories which distill vast and complex concepts – both philosophical and societal - into manageable and relatable tides of thinking and fluid ways of being. During this same period of study abroad, I stumbled upon an art gallery1 within the small city of Oulu where I encountered the work of Jaakko Autio, specifically, his audio-tactile installation work; Owla (2023a). Sitting within a gallery, within a city, within a country I was still adapting to, I was struck by a powerful sense of belonging. In an environment that could so easily have overwhelmed me, I felt suspended, held afloat, in a space that granted me permission to be present. This encounter stirred something within me, allowing for the unique integration of self into the work in a way I had only previously experienced when accessing the academic writings of Neimanis’ Hydrofeminism. I was led to realise: Owla, in allowing me to interact with the work, invited me to learn through my lived experiences, through a process that echoes the philosophical study of phenomena – otherwise referred to as phenomenology. In bringing ourselves to the space we are bringing the potential for philosophy and art to come together in dialogue.
1 Oulun Taidemuseo
These early experiences formed the foundation of this dissertation, allowing me to research into a kind of art that lies at the intersection between art and active phenomenological research. Through these works, passive viewers are invited to actively participate in the creation of phenomena, deeply reflect upon their experiences, and build a stronger understanding of self-identity in relation to the wider world. I name this kind of art Submersive Art.
My original concept of Submersive Art takes us beyond the scope of what we consider possible within the boundaries of art and philosophy respectively. When we think of works that encapsulate the viewer we are drawn to typical understandings of contemporary immersive art, describing works like theatre or cinema. However, although I agree immersive art is easily accessible to viewers, its tendency to transport the viewer to wherever the artist or director intends to take us rarely allows for individual input, self-reflection, or deeper insights into our understandings of self. Philosophy and specifically phenomenology suffers from an opposing issue in that what it offers us towards insightful reflection into our nature is made less accessible by its strong ties to institutionalised academia. Submersive Art crosses the gap between art and philosophy by inviting us within a space, that doesn’t transport us but rather Submerses us, encouraging us to bring our unique lived experiences into the space. In being with the work, we can consider our environment as an extension of ourselves whilst simultaneously allowing for the grounding of theoretical frameworks and metaphors through tangible, lived experiences.
By introducing Submersive Art through a philosophically situated retelling of my encounter with Owla (Autio, 2023a) I can emphasise its ability to empower participants, calling them to co-create experience and meaning within the space whilst simultaneously revealing the profound impact of the work on me. I present this retelling over three interconnected stages that form the structure of chapters within this dissertation: The initial encounter with Owla, the philosophically adjacent reflection it inspires and the communal sharing of experiences.
In the first chapter, I recount my experience with Jaakko Autio’s Owla (2023a), staying with the artwork and highlighting the elements obscured by Autio that drew me to interact with the work and explore the space. In doing so I can detail how my encounter with the work expanded my perception of the space and what was possible outwith my conventional understanding of boundaries. In exploring Owla, I was able to navigate and explore my fluid capabilities of experiencing the world.
The second chapter situates my experience within philosophy. Using my tangible interactions with Owla (Autio, 2023a) as real-world applications of Astrida Neimanis’ watery metaphors. In learning about Neimanis’ concept of Watery Embodiment (2017) I was able to relate its theory to my lived experience of dissolving boundaries and expanded understanding of self within Owla. Similarly, The feeling of interconnectedness within the work can be better understood through Neimanis’ description of fluidly interconnected networks that she refers to as “Hydrocommons” (2020). In this chapter I also take the time to introduce
Donna Haraway’s String Figure Theory (2016). Although not a theory based in Hydrofeminism, it complements and expands upon the theories of Neimanis set up in this chapter. Additionally, in introducing another philosopher we can see, just as we did when introducing philosophy to Submersive Art, that in welcoming input and experience from multiple sources and backgrounds we are multiplying the perspectives through which we can learn and understand our connections in the world. It is as I conclude this second chapter that I return to my experience with Owla that I acknowledge the limitations of drawing upon my singular experience with a work
Now recognising the potential of Submersive Art as a conduit through which we can communally share and learn from lived experiences I taking the time to fill the gaps in my experience returning my focus in the third chapter to being-with an artwork I was first exposed to the, still ongoing, project CLIMAVORE: On Tidal Zones (Cooking Sections, 2024), as a school student on the Isle of Skye when the project was launched by artist collective, Cooking Sections, back in 2017. Over the following seven and a half years CLIMAVORE has and continues to ebb and flow from my awareness, triggering memories of our previous encounters through school, work, and the press In placing CLIMAVORE in proximity to Owla (Autio, 2023a) within this dissertation, I highlight the many shared characteristics between the two works whilst emphasising CLIMAVORE’s focus on community experience and knowledge sharing.
Within this first chapter I share my initial encounter with Jaakko Autio’s Owla (2023a) and how this led me to recognise Submersive Art as a unique kind of art that invites us to engage with the work as active participants rather than just as passive viewers. In sharing this experience, I hope to emphasise the impact this work had on me before I explore how Autio achieves this feeling of boundless agency between self and other by distorting our perceptions and understandings of space. Analysing how this occurs as a culmination of different sensory elements: written invitation (Autio, 2023b), special application of sound (Autio, 2023c), and controlled lighting.
As I take you on a journey through experience, I encourage you to listen to the short sample of audio from the Cassiopeia Choir provided by Jaakko Autio (2023c) by following the QR code (fig.2). This twenty-two second clip is just a small portion of the over 240 hours of material (Autio, 2023b) which is randomly played throughout the space. I encourage you to listen before turning the corner of the page so you can share the intrigue I felt when hearing this echo down the corridor of the otherwise silent Oulun Taidemuseo2
2 Finnish Name for the Oulu Art Gallery that housed the work
2: Code linking access to OWLA recordings with Cassiopeia Choir 03 08 2023 (Autio,
The room in which we found Owla (Fig.1) had been blacked out from floor to ceiling, its vastness distorted by the interplay of light and shadow. Narrow spotlights and a small window in the back provided the lighting required to ease us into the space, softening the fear of the unknown and asking us to explore what lies beyond our sensory grasp. The unease of an ominous dark space turned to something enveloping and secure. Boxes scattered the space acting as chairs and benches, inviting us, as the sign outside suggest, to linger3 –
“It is advisable to sit on the chairs placed in the exhibition space; you can also change your position to hear different sounds. The water basin placed in the centre of the space can be touched… You are Invite to linger and rest by the artwork.” (Autio, 2023b)
In-line with the entrance of the space stood a wide shallow bowl of water that sat at least my arms-breadth across. Above which hung several orb-like speakers; the largest of which was suspended just centimetres from the water surface - the others staggered around the central. Each speaker accompanied the melody of the others in whispered murmurs and base-heavy hums (Autio, 2023c), sending ripples across the water’s surface. The sound, the light, the water all playing among themselves, invited me to join them.
3 This text cited here as found on Jaakko Autio’s Website was printed on the wall outside the space, the website has been cited in this instance for ease of accessing the text.
As my time with Owla drew to a close, I brought myself to the small window in the back of the room. The blue sky and dense woodlands lay outside. Despite the blinding summer sun, only the room’s white benches and black pillars were illuminated by its light. The rest absorbed into the black floor, ceiling, and walls. Under the window, on the floor, sat a vase of flowers (Fig.4) I had somehow missed in my drifting through the room. In such sharp contrast to their surroundings they thrived off the little light the room welcomed. The flowers were never addressed, and still to this day - after researching the work, appear to hold no specific addition to the work itself. In my boundlessness to understand the potential of the space the flowers seemed connected, regardless of their origin. It struck me that despite the vapidity of the space there was room to resonate, absorb, and flourish. That much like the flowers we too may appear foreign and strange. Yet we enter this place, dwell among it, and leave having grown, grateful for the experience.
What my experience with Owla (Autio, 2023a) taught me was that what we perceive does not translate to how we perceive it. Rather it is through experiencing the distortions of our perceptions that we can better understand how we interpret the world around us. One example is low lighting employed by Autio in Owla. This one element illustrates what we perceive can easily altered by changing how we perceive it. Just as too little light can make us feel insecure in a space, too much –as we find in white-wall galleries – can make us feel unwelcome. Our mere presence as the “clumsy spectator” (O’Doherty 1976, p.41) an imperfect blight against the sterile environment. Autio careful considerations to use just enough light acts as a gesture to invite us in and around the space, highlighting important
elements to the experience and obscuring the rest. This technique is shared by artist Jesse Jones who also uses light and dark to obscure space. Noticing that once adjusted to the dark, viewers are more likely to stay and engage with the work than they would in a brighter, more traditional gallery setting (Jones. 2024), she could take advantage of this to capture the viewers attention for just a few minutes more in which the likelihood of them to engage with the work increases. This is yet another way in which obscured perception can impact our experience. Light is just one artistic element from my experience with Owla – not mentioning the curation, sound and written invitations throughout the work - which obscured my perception and distorted my understanding. Space in Owla exemplifies the potential for art – as I propose: Submersive art – to expand upon our understanding of space shaped by the participant’s willingness to engage and connect with the work. A dynamic way of being that asks us to shed presuppositions and draw connections between ourselves and our environments. This method of being with a work sits at the centre of the philosophical discussion on the nature of being. Philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty – one of the key thinkers of the phenomenological debate – countered the idealist ways of percieving the world off of logic-based assumptions and claimed that as we experience the world from our human point of perception, we physically embody the cognitive understandings of experience in the world through our intrinsically interlinked physicalities. In order to authentically be aware of our interactions with the world Merleau-Ponty implies that we must accept the biases that come form our often distorted perceptions as we can often learn from our interpretations of
these ways of thinking. Although I limited in the space of this dissertation, the potential to expand on this very specific aspect Merleau-Ponty’s theory is demonstrated in Perception and Its Development in Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology (Jacobson, K. and Russon, J. 2018).
The obscuration of space in Owla (2023a) through elements that alter our temporal perception – such as touch, light, and sound – exemplify many of the already familiar ways in which Submersive Art can manifest. Just as our our touch mediates the relationships between waves of sound and water, or our eyes perceive the push and pull of light and shadow, or even the way in which we become enveloped by the surrounding soundscape that spans across the room in its orchestral highs and whispering lows The nature of Submersive Art requires it to obscure ways of perceiving space – in whatever capacity this occurs4 invites viewers to shed their preconceived notions and actively engage in their surroundings in new and profound ways. In further analysing this understanding of my concept of Submersive Art we can draw parallels to aspects of philosophical theory that ask us to analyse our way of experiencing the world by shedding presuppositions, recognising our interconnectedness with others and, most importantly, be fluid.
4 Many examples in this dissertation revolve around water as this is the connection that tied my understanding of Submersive art to that of hydrofeminism however, water is not an essential aspect for Submersive artworks to manifest.
Chapter 2: Reflections
In asking us to be -and be with- bodies of water, Neimanis wants us to consider how this fluidity might affect the dynamics of our relation to others. Asking us what actions we should take, if any, to improve or strengthen these relationships. These interconnected Hydrocommons, as posed by Neimanis (2017, 2020), help us be aware of the complex networks that we find ourselves in when practicing watery embodiment -
“We are [all] sharing in an aqueous hydrocommons that connects us in really material ways, but we are differentiated through and as and by water as well.” (Neimanis, 2020)
Submersive Art naturally lends itself to these ideas by dissolving distinctions between audience, environment, and artwork, it builds a sense of relatedness that aligns with Neimanis’ framework. The fluid and multi sensory nature of Submersive Art encourages participants to experience their interconnectedness, offering a lived encounter with the theory of Watery Embodiment.
My encounter with Owla (Autio, 2023a) exemplifies how Submersive Art encapsulates the concept of Watery Embodiment through lived experience.
Jaakko Autio’s installation invited participants to explore its space with curiosity, and an open mind leading to the break down of conventional barriers between self and environment. The most intense moments of boundlessness that I experienced within Owla took place in and around the central water feature where I was struck
In the context of Submersive Art, storytelling become a way of sharing and amplifying the experiences that arise within these works. Haraway’s theory highlights the importance of recognising and valuing the diverse narratives that emerge from such encounters. Narratives, that when recognised, can lead to the building of new experiences, that are just as complex as the interlinking series of interactions that triggered the enquiry in the first instance. By being aware of these connections, as minute and distant as some of them may seem, we can live a more self-aware life that considers the wellbeing of others. By expanding our localised string figures further; by sharing, making, and reliving stories, we are building a stronger network of connections that increase our understanding of the world around us. Haraway states that these stories – and the experiences they symbolise - form our the environments from which we base out worldview. As frivolous, “whimsical” (2018, p.29) or unimportant as some of these connections may seem, they are crucial in forming a richer tapestry through which we can learn to live with - rather than among - others. This idea connects back to Neimanis’ Hydrocommons (2017,2020); the shared network of connection that shape our identities and experiences. When we share stories of our encounters with and through Submersive Art, we are contributing to a larger web of understanding, enriching our awareness of our situated and collective identities. My encounter with Jaakko Autio’s Owla (2023a) exemplifies the potential of submersive art to grant access to the explorative process of Watery Embodiment, shifting the focus of experience from academics who situate themselves in very
different environments to the diverse backgrounds of the majority of people that make up society. However, in emphasising the potential for shared storytelling through Submersive art, I am conscious that my experience with Owla - as gripping and impactful as it was – is limited by its individual nature. Whilst the installation triggered a deep sense of interconnectedness, I did not have the opportunity to discuss or share my experience in-depth with others - I didn’t even return to the space on a different day - but I regularly think of what could have arisen if I had. By imagining how others might have interacted and engaged or experienced the work, I am reminded of Haraway’s suggestion that these shared narratives can deepen our collective understanding of situated relatedness. In posing Submersive Art I am suggesting it has the potential to cultivate shared learning by creating spaces for dialogues and storytelling
This chapter has demonstrated how Submersive Art, exemplified by my encounter with Owla (2023a), can serve as a conduit for Neimanis’ concept of Water Embodiment. By dissolving boundaries and building interconnectedness , such works offer participants an embodied method of understanding complex philosophical ideas. Haraway’s emphasis on storytelling complements this process, highlighting the importance of sharing and amplifying the narratives that arise from these experiences – allowing voices from all walks of life to be heard.
Together, Neimanis and Haraway - through Watery Embodiment, Hydrocommons and String Figure Theory - offer a framework for understanding how Submersive Art can deepen our awareness of interconnectedness and identity.
However, the limitations of my individual experience with Owla (2023a) undermines the importance of communal dialogue. This roadblock in my research brings me to my next chapter, recalling an artwork from my past that not only carries out the submersive process - identified in chapter one – but expands on the idea of community engagement, exploring how Submersive Art can cultivate deeper connections within communities.
multitudes of Knowledges that are shared across communities to come together, and nurturing them within these spaces, it directs us towards enacting meaningful change. Taking the form of a network of spaces across the Isle of Skye, an otherwise rurally-situated and isolated community, CLIMAVORE allowed us to developing stronger connections to ourselves, each other and the wider world by welcoming engagement around the topics of sustainable eating habits, maninduced affects on local climate and a heightened awareness of the health of marine ecosystems .
In November 2020 I received an invite from ATLAS Arts – where I previously interned - for an outdoor, socially distanced meal. Thanks to the global pandemic, this was the first public gathering I had had in a while. The location was set as the Oyster tables at Bayfield, Portree (Fig. 6) – An “Installation-Performance” (Cooking Sections, 2021 built from a collection of functional oyster crates that lined up to create a network of tables and benches. In inviting locals to the tables during low tide this world could help us realise the potential fruits of our environment – fruits that take the form of shellfish and seaweeds – that our specific and localised climate had farmed on our behalf.
My invitation to the Oyster Tables felt significant as over three years, including my internship, I had only developed a passing awareness of what CLIMAVORE had been – only hearing about it in school from friends, filling in documents at work or seeing pictures in the press. It was only upon my invitation to join my school
and sourcing work-experience opportunities for school kids with high-end chefs from the community (CLIMAVORE 2024), demonstrating the long term impacts felt on the Isle of Skye as a result of the still-ongoing CLIMAVORE project. By collaborating with schools, local businesses and community organisations CLIMAVORE has deeply rooted itself within the community in which its situated, ensuring its longevity and potential for the sharing and learning from experience.
By accepting and incorporating the diverse forms of Knowledges held within our communities - native, generational, experiential and ecological (Cajete, 2024); CLIMAVORE transcends the limitations of knowledge as developed in academia to include the wealth of non-human perspectives. By sharing dialogues with those within our hydrocommon – such as plants animals, people or and climates – we are being aware of the once overlooked relationships and opening ourselves to the potential to learn from these vital perspectives.
Growing our understanding of Knowledges and valuing them alongside academic knowledge, which remains crucial in the maintenance of the societal structures currently in place and articulation of complex experience we are enabled to access a nuanced and collaborative approach to addressing complex issues. Audre Lorde, when discussing the importance of race and gender to be discussed on equal grounds despite our unique and unequal backgrounds, captures the essence of this interconnectedness:
“Within the interdependence of mutual (nondominant) differences lies that security which enables us to descend into the chaos of knowledge and return with true visions of our future, along with the concomitant power to effect those changes that can bring that future into being. Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.”
(Lorde,2018. P.18)
Submersive Art reimagines the relationship between art, philosophy, and community. Projects like CLIMAVORE exemplify how Submersive Art can give voice to and empower communities to enact change based on their lived realities. By creating spaces where diverse Knowledges can come together and challenge the predominantly accepted truths of academic knowledge, Submersive Art acts as a conduit through which we can come together and tackle complex global issues in realistic and sustainable ways; proving that difference is not a barrier but a source of collective strength and resilience.
Concluding my reflection from my time spent at CLIMAVORE’s Oyster Tables (2017), the meal was drawn to a close by the sun setting rapidly behind us. The tide came kissing our soles wishing us our farewells as we gathered our belongings and headed landward. After just a half hour more the tide would reclaim its property and hold its own conversations around the oyster tables where we had just been sat.
The importance of people from all backgrounds accessing phenomenological processes is vital to me when proposing the concept of Submersive Art. It opens the potential to explain why and how community informed decisions can lead to beneficial change within communities through an interconnection with the work and better insight into self. This allows the project greater longevity compared to an imposed set of rules based off of information or statistics that do not factor in the individual experiences of the people in the communities who are capable of making a splash.
In doing so we become situated in vast network of beings that are inherently tied to each and every living and non-living being on earth. With this understanding we can be both aware of ourselves as the centre of our experiences – as alluded to in Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology (Jacobson,K.andRusson,J.2018) - whilst simultaneously being aware aware of our connections with and to the wider community and constructs that form our understanding of situatedness within the world.
The process of our bodies being the vessels for our interconnected state in the world is sits nicely in dialogue alongside aspects of phenomenological theory such as those of Astrida Neimanis’ Hydrofeminism. Neimanis’ Watery Embodiment, asking us to – much like Merleau-Ponty – embody our understanding of experience through our very-human ways of perceiving but expanding upon this by asking us to reconsider the understanding of bodies beyond the rigid, distinct ideas that we tend to live by. Just as within my experiences with submersive artworks I felt as through I was extending my physical self in order to explore and understand the experience of being among so many interconnected multi sensory elements within the space.
Neimanis continues this theory with the adjacent concept of Hydrocommons which - the large networks of interconnectedness in which we find ourselves which expands further when we share our experiences with others. In increasing the volume of perspective on a phenomena we can better understand the universal elements of experiences, gain insight into our own ways of being, and
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