Water Consciousness and The New Sublime

Water exposed to different sounds forms different crystals - Images from experiments with reservoir water Babs Smith 2024

Could water, the essence of life itself, possess consciousness? This intriguing question has captivated researchers and artists, challenging our fundamental understanding of consciousness and matter.

Dr. Masaru Emoto's groundbreaking experiments in the 1990s revealed something extraordinary: water crystals formed different patterns when exposed to various emotions, words, and music. Beautiful, symmetrical formations emerged from positive influences, while chaotic patterns resulted from negative ones.

Contemporary researcher Veda Austin (@vedaausten_water) has furthered this exploration, documenting water's apparent ability to respond to human intention and environmental influences. Her fifteen years of research suggest that water might possess a form of "memory," behaving in ways that defy conventional scientific understanding.

While these findings remain controversial in scientific circles, they open a profound possibility: the water that flows through our rivers, falls as rain, and constitutes our bodies might be more than just a passive substance – it could be an active participant in the universal dance of consciousness.

The New Sublime Post

The New Sublime Trigger Image Immersive Greenbooth 2025

The New Sublime began as an inquiry into our separation from and connection to the Earth, created during a time of disconnect with our landscape. Nicholas Bourriaud's notion that the sublime can outline a new approach to contemporary aesthetics—free from romanticism—presents a relevant concept for analysing art in the Anthropocene. Initially defined as a "delightful horror" and the relationship between humans and nature, this updated version of the sublime reflects the sense of danger and loss of control we are now experiencing.

The work references Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog," translating that same sense of awe into our contemporary context. The content is drawn directly from the landscape and represents the artists' response to Bourriaud's theory.

The artwork features patterns of moving water from the reservoir, captured using Veda's method of freezing and photographing the results. Each of the different patterns and marks respond to various sounds—the hum of overhead pylons recorded by Sophie, along with thunder, wind, and rain. We have immersed our subject in an overwhelming moving landscape, recreating the profound feeling that Sophie and I experienced when we first rounded the corner to witness the magnificent vista from the main carpark entrance.