“A surrealistic meditation on the way that different environments encroach on each other.” Financial Times

The Terrestrial Sea highlights the diverse and ever-changing environments of the Cromarty Firth, Scotland through music and film. In 2012, Mark Lyken was Artist in Residence at The Lighthouse Field Station in Cromarty, where he worked alongside the Field Station’s team of Ecologists, IOTA and the University of Aberdeen to record The Terrestrial Sea album.

“Mark Lyken transcends this revolving door of a reality by giving us so much to be thankful for. A stellar, touching release. Welcome to the terrestrial sea…”  Fluid Radio

In this Cryptic commission for Sonica, Lyken transformed The Terrestrial Sea into an audiovisual performance after returning to the Lighthouse in 2014 with regular collaborator and filmmaker Emma Dove. Premiering at Festival Multiplicidade, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2014), performances followed at Sonica in Glasgow and London, plus an album release on Important Records. Mark recently undertook a residency at the Mexican Centre for Music and Sonic Arts (CMMAS), Morelia to further develop the work with surround sound (August 2016).

“A poem to the grim beauty of Scotland’s Cromarty Firth.” The Wire