SONAR

Pittsburgh based artist Christopher Lisowski and Buffalo based artist Tullis Johnson presented SONAR an interactive installation that investigates Low Frequency Active Sonar and its potential for inflicting harm on cetaceans, the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life. SONAR explores the cultural significance of whales, and addresses the atypical mass standings that occur on our borders to the sea. 707 Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA- October 2007



The first recorded use of hydro acoustic technology dates from 1490 when Leonardo Di Vinci wrote; “If you cause your ship to stop, and place the head of a long tube in the water and place the other side of the tube to your ear, you will hear ships at a great distance from you."

Modern echo location technology was developed shortly after the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 14, 1912. Scientists in England, Germany, and the United States responded to the hazards posed by icebergs and the growing dangers of submarine warfare. The International Ice Patrol was established around the same time after the International Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was convened in London on November 12, 1913.

Natural echo location occurs most notably in whales and bats. Whales communicate and navigate using sounds focused in fatty tissue in their foreheads. This organ, called the melon, is especially large in Sperm Whales; so big in fact that its battering ability inspired Herman Melville’s masterpiece. The story of Moby Dick was a fictional account of a real occurrence. In 1820 the Nantucket whaling ship Essex sank 2000 miles off the coast of South America when it was repeatedly rammed by an 80 ton sperm whale.

SONAR (SOund NAvigation and Ranging) was developed to prevent collision. In the beginning it was used to protect merchants and travelers from icebergs. Later it was used to avoid torpedoes. Today the international ice patrol’s most important function is to record the rapid depletion of icebergs at sea. In March of 2000 iceberg B15 broke off of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. At over 11,000 square miles it was the largest iceberg ever recorded, larger even than the island of Jamaica.

SURTAS LFA (Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active) SONAR is a new technology still in preliminary testing stages. It allows for vastly greater range and specificity than the ping of normal Sonar. Unfortunately the residual effects of this technology threaten the balance of life at sea.

In March of 2000, a stranding of seventeen marine mammals of several species was discovered along the Northeast and Northwest Providence Channels on Bahamian Islands. The strandings took place within 24 hours of U.S. Navy ships using LFA Sonar for an unusually extended period. Six of the whales died after stranding on beaches. Specimen samples were collected from four dead whales. Three whales showed signs of bleeding in the inner ears and one whale showed signs of bleeding around the brain.

There’s a natural tendency to avoid thinking about subjects that might involve some psychic pain, but the idea that human civilization is colliding with the earth’s environment is a painful reality.


Sands Of Nineveh Are Restless, 2007
Tullis Johnson and Christopher Lisowski
Mixed Media Sculpture


When Commodity Outperforms Function- 2007
20 inch round
Mixed Media on Canvas

A Pod Or A Hatch Ling, Either Coalmine or Vast Seas Expanse- 2007
20 inch round
Mixed Media on Canvas

Trying To Escape That Which Is Inescapable- 2007
20 inch round
Mixed Media on Canvas


The Great Divide, 2007
Christopher Lisowski and Tullis Johnson
Sound Design Assisted by Christopher Storms
Mixed Media Sculpture
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