Into the White Abyss

'Into the White Abyss' traces Philip Samartzis’s long-term engagement with Antarctica through sound, listening, and fieldwork.

This presentation reflects on the aesthetic, technical, and conceptual frameworks that underpin artistic practice in environments defined by scale, isolation, and sensory extremity.

Through selected recordings and critical reflection, Samartzis considers how sound operates as both material and method—shaping how artists encounter landscape, time, and environmental change. The session offers insight into listening as a research tool and creative strategy, revealing how Antarctic fieldwork informs broader questions around place, perception, and the limits of representation.

 

Philip Samartzis is a sound artist, curator, and researcher whose work explores the relationship between sound, place, and environmental change. His practice is grounded in field recording and long-term site-based research, often undertaken in remote or extreme locations including Antarctica, desert and alpine regions. Samartzis has presented performances, installations, and exhibitions internationally, working across experimental music, spatial sound, and acoustic ecology. He is Professor of Sound Art at RMIT University, where his research focuses on listening as a critical and creative methodology.

Thumbnail image: 'Wilkins Aerodrome', 2016. Photo by Philip Samartzis.

This public program is presented by RMIT University as part of the exhibition 'Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South', across both RMIT Gallery and Design Hub Gallery.

Book now

Share

Related events

1220x732-david-nielson-creative-antarctica.jpg

Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 20 Feb 2026 - 02 May 2026

'Creative Antarctica' is a multifaceted exhibition featuring Australian artists and writers who have been influenced by their observations and experiences of the Far South.

1220x732-recording-the-blizzard.jpg

Recording the Blizzard

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 25 Feb 2026

'Recording the Blizzard' explores the challenges and creative possibilities of working with sound in Antarctica’s most extreme conditions.

1220x732-air-pressure.jpg

Air Pressure

Icon / Small / Calendar Created with Sketch. 27 Feb 2026
Icon / Small / Location Created with Sketch. The Capitol

'Air Pressure' is a live performance developed through dialogue between Antarctic field recordings and experimental performance practice.

Load more
aboriginal flag float-start torres strait flag float-start

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Indigenous cultures