Noyes Studio Projects explores themes of grief, memory, and healing through a interdisciplinary and collaborative approach. The practice reveals deep connections between human bodies, bodies of water, and all living beings, emphasizing their interdependence. By treating emotion as a foundational material, the studio reframes mourning as a transformative journey toward resilience, empathy, and purposeful action.
What began as a personal inquiry has evolved into an exploration of grief in the context of climate catastrophe, examining the profound effects of global warming on our ocean bodies. Here, the ocean serves as a symbolic repository for grief accumulated over millennia. This research has led the studio to investigate the intricate connections between human bodies and other non-human bodies of water, illuminating shared vulnerability and resilience.
Hydrocene Theory redefines our relationship with water by encouraging us to “think as water” rather than merely “about water.” This shift in perspective places human bodies—both physically and emotionally—at the center of climate collapse. Recognizing that we, like the ocean, are water bodies, makes the destruction more tangible and immediate, fostering a deeper connection to the crisis.
Currently, we are working on three projects
In Dinner for Two Leftovers, the allusion to domestic grief is an allegory for broader cultural grief over losses caused by climate change.
The Booth is a vintage phone booth installed in a public space that invites individuals to share their experiences of grief. This project creates a brief moment of privacy within a shared space, allowing participants to articulate the complex emotions they carry. Inside, voices are layered with water sounds, immersing the speaker and registering each expression as part of a larger, collective presence. When the door opens, the sound of water spills into the surrounding environment, extending the experience outward and creating a shared awareness of one person’s passage through a moment of emotional rupture.
“Soaked,” inspired by Hydrocene Theory, is a site-specific immersive video installation that brings human bodies and bodies of water into a palpable convergence.
Perhaps these large-scale losses are what the theorist Timothy Morton would call intellectual hyperobjects that need to be considered on a personal scale to become visible—our work attempts to bring viewers across this emotional bridge.
Learn More: http://www.connienoyes.com