»Testing the Waters« is a long-form electroacoustic composition unfolding through episodic movements that together trace a sonic dérive. Field recordings intermingle with instrumental and electronic passages, shaped through studio processes into a continually shifting terrain. Originally composed in Berlin in the spring of 2023 as a commission for WDR 3 Radio in Cologne, the work is threaded throughout by the recurring presence of water—trickling, flowing, resonating, and transforming. As both material and metaphor, water lends the piece its title, its recurring presence quietly shaping the work’s sense of movement, permeability, and drift.

crys cole (b. 1976, Winnipeg, Canada) is a Berlin-based artist working across electroacoustic composition, performance, sculpture, and sound installation. Focused listening lies at the heart of her practice, through which she creates subtle, evocative works using haptic gestures and seemingly mundane materials—creating texturally nuanced pieces that shift sensory perception and continually retune the ear.

cole has performed extensively worldwide in both solo and collaborative contexts, collaborating with artists including Annea Lockwood, Tetuzi Akiyama, Limpe Fuchs, Toshimaru Nakamura, Francis Plagne, Taku Unami, and Leif Elggren. She maintains ongoing duos with Oren Ambarchi, and with James Rushford as Ora Clementi. Her work has been commissioned and released by labels and institutions including Black Truffle (AU/DE), Ultra Eczema (BE), Second Editions (DE), Boomkat (UK), Issue Project Room (US), WDR3 (DE), Radiophrenia (SCT), Ina GRM (FR), and more.

Her works have been exhibited at galleries and events including the South London Gallery (UK), Biennale Son (CH), Geometry of Now (RU), Centre A (CA), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (DE), Bangkok Art & Culture Center (TH), and Art Gallery of New South Wales (AU).