Artworks created in response to an art-science residency embedded within a current environmental research project: The Wood, Termite & Fungi Project, an international research project, led by University of Miami, studying tropical deadwood carbon fluxes, in order to improve current carbon models used for climate forecast modeling.
|
Exhibitions / Updates
NOVEMBER 2022 'DE-compose' [works from the Wood Fungi Termite Project], Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA Virtual Gallery: www.lowe.miami.edu/learn-engage/digital-engagement/index.html JULY 2022 ‘DE-compose’, single channel projection @ The Condensery, Toogooloowah. 9 July - 4 September JUNE 2022 'DE-CAY-dence' selected as part of World Science Festival Brisbane's 'Curiocity' program, 24 June - 10 July www.worldsciencefestival.com.au/news/why-include-an-artist-in-a-science-project JUNE 2022 ‘When A Tree Falls’ @ The Centre, Beaudesert, featuring work from this project. 11 June - 13 August, AUGUST 2021 ‘Sites of Connection’ @ University of Sunshine Coast, featuring ‘DE-CAY-dence’, three channel video installation. 13 August - 30 October, 2021 ’When A Tree Falls’ @ Northsite Contemporary Art Space, featuring work from this project. 7 May - 19 June, 2021 ARTWORKS
’DE-CAY-dence’, 2021, video My work explores ecological relationships in an effort to try and understand the complex dichotomy between humans and nature with respect to climate change. In reality without a healthy ecosystem, humans and life could not exist, we are intrinsically linked and therefore share the same fate. This work explores inter species relationships using ‘hidden players’ to consider the complex issue of the carbon economy and climate change; the currency of the work is drawn from a scientific research project that investigates tropical deadwood decomposition. Hidden players essential for this process, such as termites, microbes and fungi are quietly hard at work cycling nutrients, which support the ecological health of our planet. In contrast, humans are consuming resources to fuel our unsustainable and often-decadent lifestyles. Through subtle mirroring of the viewers reflection in the screen, these ecological portraits simultaneously present these players alongside the human; inviting contemplation about roles and accountability within the biosphere. Playing with the concept of ‘Who IS the fairest’ the work challenges our unconscious bias with respect to terms such as pest, germ, decay, versus notions of beauty, value and status; to explore how these beliefs inform our ecological understanding and action. Special thanks to Rebecca Clement, George Washington University for capturing and supplying source images of termite species and Stuart Worboys, Australian Tropical Herbarium for capturing and supplying source image of Tasmannia sp. Mt Bellenden Ker, featured in the work after being digitally altered by the artist. This project was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. |
Wood Termites Fungi : Artist in Residence (2019 - 2022)
University of Miami, USA (Lead Research Organisation) The Natural History Museum London, UK (Collaborating Research Organisation) Science: Climate Change - Tropical deadwood carbon fluxes: Improving carbon models by incorporating termites and microbes Art: Hidden players in ecosystems that shape how fast carbon cycles within the system. This project combines field, molecular, and modeling approaches in tropical Australia, where termites and fungi are key agents of wood turnover. This project is an international collaboration between scientists in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and is supported, in part, by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering. The project will also support education and training of junior scientists. The project will include training at the graduate student and postdoctoral levels, and is part of an international collaborative effort with scientists in England funded by the United Kingdom's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Art-Science Collaborations
Reflections on 'DE-CAY-dence' As artist-in-residence on this project I worked with Entomologists, Mycologists, Ecologists, Microbial Ecologists and Mathematicians to create the work ‘DE-CAY-dence’; which references twelve termite genera plus data from the project (in the frame and animation), the stochastic nature of microbes (in the animation) together with representation of new life/growth that depends on decay. Physical field and lab work [in tropical North Queensland] coupled with virtual residency experience provided rotating collaborations with a number of Scientists from diverse fields; generating deep connections, insight and inspiration to create the work. Two of the portrait frames were designed as a type of artistic graph, (1) twelve termite genera and (2) mycelium networks, digitally created to respond to field data collected from wet (top of frame) to dry (bottom of frame) rainfall gradients during the project. The frames were created in an aesthetic, which re-presents these organisms as precious and curious kin; whilst simultaneously suggesting the unsustainable exploitation of Earth’s resources. TERMITES: The first frame displays a swirling, cyclic series of twelve genera of brightly coloured termites, reinterpreted by the artist from stereo microscope images taken by Entomologist, Rebecca Clement, George Washington University; these termites swirl and shatter as they play their role in the decomposition cycle breaking wood into smaller pieces which will then be broken down further by the microbes (fungi + bacteria) MICROBES: The third frame displays these microbes, not as cyclic but rather in a more unpredictable format, referencing the stochastic nature of these organisms in the decomposition cycle. This animation sequence was created during a virtual residency with the Allison Lab team, University of California, Irvine and Associate Professor Jeff Power, Western Sydney University; a team that included Mathematician, Ecologists and Mycologists. The microbes in this sequence are imagine representations created in consultation with th team; created as sculptural clay forms, photographed then animated. In order to create a stochastic sequence for the animation I randomly selected possible microbial events such as: Bacterial decay, white rot decay, brown rot decay [and/or combinations of these events] and added them into the sequence. PLANTS: The centre frame depicts the life cycle of wood, depicting decay as the source of new life, as sapling sprout from rich environments of decomposed timber and plant material. Plants featured in the work are from The Tropical Mountain Plant Science Project, a concurrent art science residency led by the Australian Tropical Herbarium at James Cook University, supported by the Wet Tropics Management Authority; a rescue mission for wild flor populations at risk from climate change. |
|
|
Introducing the Research Team:
Dr Amy Zanne, Ecologist, University of Miami, USA
Role: Principal Investigator, coordinating the team and project
Dr Paul Eggleton, Termite systematist and ecologist/soil biologist, The Natural History Museum, London
Role: Co-Principal Investigator - Termite taxonomy and natural history. Interested especially in the global role of termites in ecosystems. General advice and guidance for the project on things relating to termites.
Professor Steven Allison, Microbial and ecosystem ecologist, University of California, Irvine, USA
Role: Co-Principal Investigator - Develop computer models of wood decay and termite biology; examine the biochemistry of wood decay.
Associate Professor Jeff Powell, Ecologist / Mycologist, Western Sydney University
Role: Helping with characterisation and analysis of fungal communities via DNA sequencing methods.
Associate Professor Will Cornwell, Ecologist, University of New South Wales
Role: Data synthesis, carbon cycling modelling.
Associate Professor Lucas Cernusak, Plant physiologist, James Cook University, Cairns
Role: Assist with project coordination at JCU and field sites, advise on gas flux measurements.
Dr Habacuc Flores Moreno, Plant ecologist, George Washington University
Role: Run project at field sites and JCU. I am interested in understanding the way plants make a living - how tall they grow, how thick their leaves are, how heavy their seeds are, and how these vary across broad environmental gradients, and the causes and consequences of this variation at different scales.
Dr Alex Cheesman, Plant ecophysiologist and biogeochemist, University of Exeter (UK), currently seconded to James Cook University, Cairns, AU
Role: Helping to design the experimental approach, establish the research sites, with a particular focus on the determination of gas fluxes in the system studied.
Rebecca Clement, Entomologist / graduate student in biological sciences, George Washington University, USA
Role: Focusing on the termite diversity throughout the sites. Also interested in the gut microbe symbionts in the termites and different life history strategies of the termites.
Abbey Yatsko, Undergraduate student in environmental and sustainability sciences, focus in climate change and biogeochemistry, Cornell University, UK
Role: Assist in wood decay harvest and termite surveys, learn about tropical ecology and the role of nutrient cycling that occurs by different mechanisms.
Collaborators on the project: University of Miami (Lead Research Organisation) and George Washington University, USA; The Natural History Museum London, UK (Collaborating Research Organisation); University of California, Irvine, USA (Collaborating Research Organisation); National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of International Science and Engineering, USA; Natural Environment Research Council, UK (NERC); Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney; Australian Tropical Herbarium, Cairns; Smithsonian Natural History Museum, DC; National Arboretum, DC; Missouri Botanic Gardens, Missouri; Rainforest Rescue, Cape Tribulation; and Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
Dr Amy Zanne, Ecologist, University of Miami, USA
Role: Principal Investigator, coordinating the team and project
Dr Paul Eggleton, Termite systematist and ecologist/soil biologist, The Natural History Museum, London
Role: Co-Principal Investigator - Termite taxonomy and natural history. Interested especially in the global role of termites in ecosystems. General advice and guidance for the project on things relating to termites.
Professor Steven Allison, Microbial and ecosystem ecologist, University of California, Irvine, USA
Role: Co-Principal Investigator - Develop computer models of wood decay and termite biology; examine the biochemistry of wood decay.
Associate Professor Jeff Powell, Ecologist / Mycologist, Western Sydney University
Role: Helping with characterisation and analysis of fungal communities via DNA sequencing methods.
Associate Professor Will Cornwell, Ecologist, University of New South Wales
Role: Data synthesis, carbon cycling modelling.
Associate Professor Lucas Cernusak, Plant physiologist, James Cook University, Cairns
Role: Assist with project coordination at JCU and field sites, advise on gas flux measurements.
Dr Habacuc Flores Moreno, Plant ecologist, George Washington University
Role: Run project at field sites and JCU. I am interested in understanding the way plants make a living - how tall they grow, how thick their leaves are, how heavy their seeds are, and how these vary across broad environmental gradients, and the causes and consequences of this variation at different scales.
Dr Alex Cheesman, Plant ecophysiologist and biogeochemist, University of Exeter (UK), currently seconded to James Cook University, Cairns, AU
Role: Helping to design the experimental approach, establish the research sites, with a particular focus on the determination of gas fluxes in the system studied.
Rebecca Clement, Entomologist / graduate student in biological sciences, George Washington University, USA
Role: Focusing on the termite diversity throughout the sites. Also interested in the gut microbe symbionts in the termites and different life history strategies of the termites.
Abbey Yatsko, Undergraduate student in environmental and sustainability sciences, focus in climate change and biogeochemistry, Cornell University, UK
Role: Assist in wood decay harvest and termite surveys, learn about tropical ecology and the role of nutrient cycling that occurs by different mechanisms.
Collaborators on the project: University of Miami (Lead Research Organisation) and George Washington University, USA; The Natural History Museum London, UK (Collaborating Research Organisation); University of California, Irvine, USA (Collaborating Research Organisation); National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of International Science and Engineering, USA; Natural Environment Research Council, UK (NERC); Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney; Australian Tropical Herbarium, Cairns; Smithsonian Natural History Museum, DC; National Arboretum, DC; Missouri Botanic Gardens, Missouri; Rainforest Rescue, Cape Tribulation; and Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
