Another Nature (in-progress)
2022–ongoing | digital infrared photographs, video, micro CT scans, scanning electron microscope, satellite data
Australia’s Black Summer megafires became the catalyst for this work, which uses multiple imaging technologies to speculate on more-than-human sensing of wildfire and its effects. I harness infrared, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-CT scanning, and satellite data to reveal what lies beyond human perception – imaging techniques I adopt as a counter to conventional depictions of climate collapse. Drawing on Jakob von Uexküll’s concept of umwelten (species-specific perceptual worlds), the iterative moving image installation Another Nature proposes a ‘multi-umwelt’ approach to envisioning wildfire. I frame the project as an affective assemblage of imaging modalities that expand the human sensorium toward non-human perceptions: infrared renders visible wavelengths we cannot see; microscopy reveals textures and architectures at imperceptible scales; satellite time-lapse compresses planetary patterns into perceptible duration. Through this sensory expansion, I seek to build a capacity for kinship with the more-than-human world.
Research Assistant – Alex Thorne
Microscopy – Chaitali Dekiwadia and Louisa Huang, RMIT University Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility.
Developed with the support of RMIT University Career Reignite Funding and the Centre for Project Art