in extremis
Presented by Arts House
Exhibition Opening:
6pm–9pm, Tue 31 Oct
10am–6pm
Wed 1 – Sat 10 Nov
FREE
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Accessibility:
in extremis includes a variety of installations and experiences. Whilst every effort has been made to be accessible, some parts of the exhibition involve elements which may not be accessible. If you have any access questions, please contact us on 9322 3720 and we will work with you to curate a journey of in extremis so you can get the most out of your experience at Arts House.
Download the exhibition catalogue
Climatic extremes are the new meteorological normal for our planet. This screen-and-audiobased exhibition offers human, interspecies, plant and geological perspectives, and visceral experiences of the fragility, resilience and collapse of systems and ecologies. in extremis is lightning storms, dry winds, urban heathaze and contorted railway lines; parched riverbeds and flooded cities; panting, sweating, fainting and hallucinating.
Join in extremis essayist Professor Sarah Miller and presenting artists for a night of presentations, experiences and performance at the exhibition opening on Tuesday 31 October.
Exhibiting artists include:
Leah Barclay / Migration Patterns Saltwater
An immersive sound installation exploring the fragility and complexity of marine life that live in a world of sound and vibration. Drawing on a large database of underwater recordings from the coastline of Queensland, this work traces sonic migration patterns and shifting ecologies from the smallest micro crustaceans to the largest marine mammals on the planet.
Daniel Browning / Latitudes
Latitudes is a sound work inspired by three UNESCO World Heritage sites: Lake Mungo in south-western New South Wales, the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route in Japan and the Valcamonica rock art valley in northern Italy. As sites of human occupation and refuge, each of the locations speak of cataclysm, alienation, adaptability and return.
Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey & Jen Hector / The High Ground
A new installation in the North Melbourne Town Hall Clock Tower , The High Ground is a test of human empathy in confined spaces. Participants undertake a negotiation within a delicate and precarious situation. Only one person can make it to the top. In collaboration with Jen Hector (Australia), Live Umbrella (Finland), and Sophie Weeks and John Ash (UK).
Jill Orr / Antipodean Epic
Antipodean Epic is a performative photographic and video journey that incorporates seed both in abundance and scarcity. The work utilises costume to create characters, or creatures, as a means to ask: Are the creatures the end of their species or the beginning of another? Are they displaced or transported viral creations? Are they unwanted interlopers within the seed stock? Are they the carriers of a potential future or remnants of a distant past or both?
Zoe Scoglio/ Human Sundial Project 3
Human Sundial Project 3 is an invitation to travel through time and space whilst staying still. Creating images both within the screen and the audiences minds eye, this project draws attention to the vast revolutionary movements and related rhythms of our planet.
Latai Taumoepeau / Repatriate
Australia’s nearest island neighbours in the Pacific Ocean are already severely impacted by extreme weather shifts, increased tropical storms, sea level rise and the contamination of the water table effecting food gardens. Repatriate brings this experience of climate change anxiety closer to the Australian people and all audiences.
wāni / Untitled
Coloniality’s imposition of westernised systemic structures through globalisation has literally brought our climate to its current condition, where the most vulnerable and marginalised are often the most devastated by climate change. Melbourne-based artist wāni explores displacement, erasure, anti-blackness and stories of dispossession that decentre whiteness in a new audio/visual work-in-development, presented as a special open studio to accompany in extremis. wāni is Artist-in-Residence for Arts House’s The Listening Program, as part of Refuge.
Presented by Arts House
Exhibition Opening:
6pm–9pm, Tue 31 Oct
10am–6pm
Wed 1 – Sat 10 Nov
FREE
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Supported by –Refuge is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; and the University of Melbourne.
Refuge supporting partners are Emergency Management Victoria, Red Cross Australia, SES Footscray Division, The Huddle at The North Melbourne Football Club, the University of Melbourne’s Research Unit in Public Cultures, Resilient Melbourne, ACTNatimuk, Nati Frinj Biennale, Creative Recovery Network and Horsham Rural City Council.
Image by – Christina Simons