Billions of years ago, life emerged in volcanic vents deep beneath the ocean’s surface through the transformation of sediments and rock into organic matter and DNA. Psychosphere explores this shared deep sea origin which forms a profound sense of interconnectedness between all living species. Five years in the making, the installation emerged from a close exchange between Jakob Kudsk Steensen and philosopher Melanie Challenger, who conceived the concept of ‘psychospheres’ – a term describing the interconnectedness of psyche and matter that define all life on Earth. The interactive installation, spanning video, sculptures, light and spatial sound, links physical and psychological worlds and makes our own connection to the evolutionary timeline tangible.

Through extensive diving field trips from the Azores to the Aeolian Islands, as well as a collaboration with REV Ocean, Kudsk Steensen captured underwater volcanic landscapes and fossils of marine animals in 3D and translated them into a virtual world. Responding to the sonic and visual elements in real time through light and sound, three distinct series of sculptures, crafted from glass, fiberglass and resin, appear across the exhibition space. The light sculptures take their form from scans of ancient rock sediments the artist came across on his field trips, while the sculptures reminiscent of scientific models replicate the shape of an extinct sea lily specimen which the artist digitized in the natural history archive of the Teylers Museum.

The soundscape of Psychosphere, composed by long-time collaborator Lugh O’Neill out of multiple layers of sound, features Kudsk Steensen’s own underwater recordings, along with archival material of songs of ocean species and a contribution by renowned Danish accordion player Bjarke Mogensen, imitating the sound of breath. The inclusion of focused moments of silence lets the echo, an important instrument in deep sea communication, travel across the space, encapsulating the audience.

For its first iteration, Psychospere’s parallel word unfolded beneath the ground of Copenhagen’s Cisternerne, a 4,400 square-meter spanning former water reservoir, where the video projections of the virtual world were mirrored in the surrounding body of water, evoking the sensation of looking up while being underwater and echoing our inner world. Across three chambers, each defined by its own atmosphere and tempo, the installation evoked a feeling of pure vibration. Slowly transcending time and space, Psychospere forms an invitation to listen to spaces outside of our human reach and to reconnect to the common heritage site of all life in the deep sea.

Since its inception, Psychosphere showed as a site-specific installation at Cisternerne in Copenhagen, 2025; at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, 2025; and as a large-scale installation at the PHI Center Montreal, 2026. 

CREDITS

Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Psychosphere, 2025
Moving image, spatialised sound, interactive glass, fiberglass and resin sculptures.
Commissioned by Cisternerne, The Frederiksberg Museums Denmark.
Foundational research supported by Gaia Art Foundation.
© Jakob Kudsk Steensen 2025.

DIRECTION & PRODUCTION
Artist & Creator - Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Philosophical Collaborator - Melanie Challenger
Project Producer - Alex Boyes
Installation Producer/Lighting Designer - Andrea Familari
Co-Producer - Liz Kircher
Research Assistant - Chiara Di Leone

MOVING IMAGE
Video & Virtual Environments - Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Arctic Deep Sea Recordings - University of Trosmø's Department of Geosciences,
Ocean Census/The Nippon Foundation, and REV Ocean/REV Aurora via the EXTREME 24 Expedition.
Mediterranean Underwater Vent Recordings - Jakob Kudsk Steensen

SOUND
Sound Direction & Underwater Vent Recordings - Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Musical Composition & Spatial Sound - Lugh O’Neill
Accordion - Bjarke Mogensen
Ocean Sound Recordings - via Sounds Too Many project by Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza commissioned by TBA21–Academy.

SCULPTURE
Direction & Concept Art - Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Specimen 3D Scanning - Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Sculptural Production & Fabrication - 10 Tons & Studio MEGATON
Glasswork - Berlin Glassworks

Psychosphere is a virtual world created by Jakob Kudsk Steensen using his original underwater recordings from the Azores and outside Stromboli, alongside 3D scanned extinct specimens. Additional deep sea material has been converted by Steensen and developed in collaboration with The University of Trosmø’s Department of Geosciences, Ocean Census/The Nippon Foundation, and REV Ocean/REV Aurora via the EXTREME 24 Expedition. Additional sound material supplied archive of Sounds Too Many project by Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza commissioned by TBA21–Academy.

PHOTOGRAPHY

STILLS
Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Psychosphere (stills), 2021. Courtesy of the artist.

INSTALLATIONS
Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Psychosphere, 2021. Installation view, Cisternene, Copenhagen Denmark. Photos: David Stjernholm.