This project explores the notion of the climate crisis and how can we as digital media practitioners contribute to spreading the urgency of climate catastrophe through meaningful communication design. Climate catastrophe is advancing at a rapid pace with examples of recent events in 2020 such as Australian wildfires, disastrous floods in Indonesia, an extreme heatwave in Siberia, and the iceberg calving of triple the size of San Francisco. Nature is showing the symptoms of its decline and we might face another Ice Age extinction sooner than we anticipated. Yet many people refuse to face the issue and negates the impact of the climate crisis. Mother Nature 2.0 illustrated this issue by situating this project in the future where the only recollections of nature exist in the memory bank of an A.I. Through the form of an interactive virtual gallery viewing experience to bring a deeper connection between the public and nature.
The video in the “Room of Glaciers” was inspired by the recent events of an iceberg calving of triple the size of San Francisco in February 2020 that sparked conversation around the dire importance of global warming. The disappearance of the noise waves is my interpretation of the melting glaciers. Commenting on the near future where over 400,000 glaciers in the world will have disappeared due to the extreme level of CO2 emissions, known as global warming.
The video presented in the “Room of Spring” addresses the issue of the loss of agriculture land and biodiversity due to unplanned urbanisation which results in deforestation and habitat destruction. These actions have significantly damaged the environment, thus contributing to the cause of climate change. The video illustrates a future where all animals have gone extinct caused by the loss of forests and grasslands.
The video In the “Room of Haboob” was inspired by the recent climate catastrophe of the Australian wildfires in mid-2019 through early 2020. The visuals exhibited a simulation of flying through a dust storm combined with ash rain as the result of wildfires. This explores the interchangeable relationship between global warming and desertification that contributes to climate change. It paints a picture of the future where the unstoppable wildfire caused by extreme heatwaves that covers the human civilisation in dust and ashes.
The “Room of Humanity” was inspired by a quote from the artist, Neil Harbisson: “People aren’t black and white, we’re all different shades of orange”. As an Asian Australian, this has provided me with a fresh and positive viewpoint on racial perspective and has helped me formed the direction of this particular video artwork. I intend to explore the concept of similarities in race and humanity through an abstract and non-linear lens.
