Sensing Oceans

Presenting science and history alongside contemporary art—including the US debut of Marshmallow Laser Feast’s "Seeing Echoes in the Mind of the Whale"—the exhibition explores how technologies, senses, and media co-evolve to bring the oceans into view.

Sensing Oceans Immersive Event - Main Image

Exhibiting works that range from autonomous vehicles and sonar images to immersive artistic installations and robots that mimic fish, Sensing Oceans presents pieces from the MIT Museum’s collections in conversation with contemporary scientific and artistic practices. Together, these works explore how our knowledge is assembled from the sensory data of sound, light, space, temperature, and pressure; and how extending our knowledge, via technology and attention to the natural world, better equips us to understand and preserve an ecosystem that is deeply symbiotic with our own. Among the exhibit’s centerpieces are the US premiere of two large-scale installations from experiential artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast: Seeing Echoes in the Mind of the Whale and Plankton Temple. Both works draw on current scientific research to create a multi-sensory experience of ocean life.

Venue

MIT Museum

Start date

September 30th, 2026

End date

February 21st, 2027

Audience Role

Visitor

Ages: All ages

Content Advisories

Varies by piece
Use of lighting and sound effects
No sexual content

Interaction Advisories

No physical contact with performers

Mobility Advisories

Event is wheelchair accessible
No mobility advisories

Tags

Exhibit
Ocean
Video installation

About Marshmallow Laser Feast

Marshmallow Laser Feast is an experiential art collective, their work reinterprets the idea of human perception and experience. Employing a wealth of creative disciplines and underpinned by research, inviting participants to navigate with a sensory perception beyond the everyday.