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Every How Drowned In An Ocean of No How is part of participatory happenings organized by Maid Out Of Ice, a project initiated by Lin Ni’s doctoral research project titled Radical Re-Decolonizing Deep Participatory Wet Action Research, at The Faculty of Art and Design in University of Lapland, Finland. The hydrofeminist situated, radio-based pilot program Maid Out Of Ice explores water literacy and ways of re-inhabitation through sonic, meditative, performances/workshops.
In the happenings, Every How Drowned In An Ocean of No How, Lin invites participants to lay down, fall asleep, and dream as soft words about human/non-human entanglement were spoken and bounced off the walls of a defunct fish processing facility inside a fish factory in Iceland. How does the ocean speak to the land? How does an artist provide alternative experiences in communication and initiate re-connection to natureculture? Petrichor—the rain’s breath upon the earth—mingles with the briny scent of the sea, with sulfurous whispers of dimethyl sulfide, with the ghost of phytoplankton and fish; and through the cylindrical metal walls of the fish silo, the ferry horn resounds like a distant summons from the ocean floor. Then, sounds of air reverberated in the local pipe organ, an instrument for local congregation, touched and played by Lin’s toes and fingers, were recorded and transported through electrical signals accompanied by viola.
The broader project is exploring the decolonization of nature through the entangled case of Seyðisfjörður’s subsea oil leak. It investigates how the Icelandic fjord waters remain haunted by colonial histories between the First and Second World Wars—particularly through oil extraction by companies such as Eagle Oil and Shipping. Ironically, the oil leak has also protected the fjord from salmon farm development proposals. Through breathing and awareness exercises supported by underwater fieldwork conducted at the site, participants collectively dive into the realities of re-inhabitation. She began this project in autumn 2025, with scholarship provided by Skaftfell Art Center, during the artist residency at Skaftfell Art Center in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. The work fosters dialogue through participatory performance, engaging global and regional awareness of sustainable transitions in relation to anthropocentric impacts underwater. During the residency, she studied the oil barrier structures installed at the spill site and the environmental impact of the incident through underwater fieldwork. She also investigated the underwater infrastructure of internet cables that connect global telecommunication networks, examining their political, environmental, and security implications. Through fieldwork, she gained a deeper understanding of the systems that enable near-instant global communication and began to question what happens when these deep-sea cables are cut—either intentionally or accidentally by deep-sea trawling. Two subsea cables, Far North Fiber (FNF) and Polar Connect, are expected to enter service across the Arctic region toward East Asia by 2027 and 2030, as reported by Nordic national research and education networks (NRENs), NORDUnet, and their partners (NORDUnet, 2024). Amidst these multidimensional urgencies, this development presents a unique co-research opportunity. She has confirmed ongoing partnerships with LungA Radio School in Iceland, ASAD (The Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design Network), and UArctic (The University of the Arctic Network) to explore how socially engaged art and science collaborations can foster international dialogue and raise ecological awareness across neighboring regions through her research productions.
“How does Land teach us—and how do we listen through creative practice?”Through underwater fieldwork, performative workshop, Lin brought forth experiences of ocean immersions to land, and invite participants to listen to these deep echoes of jellyfish, whales…and reflect, imagine, and dream on possibilities of collective re-inhabitation.
Video excerpt for happening event click here.
During the group exhibition at the Skaftfell Art Gallery, “In terms of the show, in the sense of the trace, in a hint of a twist”, the opening performance Deep Circle happened next to the installation Deep Circle Vista and sound installation Fresh Out Of Fjord at Skaftfell Art Center around 17:15 on the 17th of October. The performance features collaboration with Mariana Murcia and Franklin Anselm. The Dripping Of Tap Sounds Like A Clock Ticking, (Drawing series 1 to 6, Rust, sticky substance, pencil on paper) is featured in the West Wall Exhibition at the Skaftfell Bistro.
Video excerpt for Deep Circle, opening performance, click here.
Listen to Fresh Out of Fjord (11:44), stereo installation at the show below.