In March 2026, the renowned designer Olafur Eliasson unveiled A Symphony of Disappearing Sounds for the Great Salt Lake, a large-scale public installation that translates environmental data into a sensory experience. Presented in Salt Lake City’s Memory Grove, the project is a response to the ecological crisis facing the Great Salt Lake. This February (2026), Utah’s snowpack levels ranked among the lowest recorded since the 1980s, while water levels fell nearly six feet below the minimum healthy threshold, with approximately 54% of the lakebed now exposed. The installation serves as both a warning and call-to-action, each night from 21:00, the installation comes alive with a soundtrack paired with striking light and colour visuals designed to celebrate the magnificence of the Great Salt Lake that is threatened by its decline.
Rather than asking audiences to travel to the lake, Eliasson brings the lake into the city through the installation, collapsing the distance between environment and observer. At the centre of the installation is a towering, illuminated sphere, activated through a choreographed interplay of colour and sound. A musical composition created using over 150 field recordings of local wildlife and environmental phenomena is projected into the urban setting, allowing audiences to experience the beauty of the fragile ecosystem at risk of disappearing.
Created in collaboration with UK-based music producer Koreless, the composition draws on more than 150 field recordings of species that depend on the lake’s ecosystem, including birds, amphibians, insects and mammals. Sourced from both archival material and new recordings made specifically for the project, these natural sounds are reworked into a layered musical score that diverges from how they would typically be heard in the wild. The non-human voices are amplified and arranged into rhythmic beats to appeal to the human audience, so that they might perceive the lake in a new light and recognise its vulnerability.
“The call to protect the Great Salt Lake has never been more urgent and this artwork makes clear that the health of our communities and ecosystems are deeply intertwined,” said Mayor Erin Mendenhall. “The installation reminds us that the lake’s future is inseparable from our own — when it suffers, so do our air quality, economy, recreation and wildlife. But through collective action, we can restore and protect this vital landscape.” Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
