Journeys and lenses to connect stories

I love Paul’s idea to “… investigate [through animation] a co-authored artwork”. Such a work may reflect our co-creative journey to bring together knowledge that we find through our art, science and cultural heritage, about relationships between health of humans and the Southern Ocean.

Paul: “…For example seek One contribution from every contributor/“author” who is happy to share a ‘research finding’, written statement or excerpt of text eg from the paper in development or other, a picture diagram , spoken, sung or written anecdote, any other artwork/expression of idea relating to health of southern ocean and our connection to this..”

So, for possible inclusion in Paul’s animation: the video (below) that I made eight years ago in conversation with scientist Andrew Constable, “to make climate change data attractive to people through art”; two recent drawings that propose to trace journeys of discovery through space and time; a video recording of me with choreographer Barbara Cuckson, working out ideas for a dance that combines new and ancient knowledge of the Southern Ocean.

The video below was made in conversation with Andrew Constable, about scientific modelling. Andrew says modelling “… is not empirical, but mythical; In the end, it’s your belief that comes through [in your response to climate science].”

The first drawing is an Idea for an interactive interface for MEASO-LIVINGDATA story-sharing, that super-imposes three perspectives, or lenses:
01 – Katherina’s Cirumpolar Navigation
02 – Andrews Sectorial views of the Southern Ocean
03 – Yunkaporta’s ways of thinking that together grow a holistic view, and that serve as navigation signposts in the the Lunar Time Living Data Library:

Idea for interactive interface for MEASO-LIVINGDATA story sharing – superimpose three lenses

The second drawing is a plan for a dance about journeys of waterways and creatures that our Indigenous ancestors around the world would have expressed through the arts to pass on knowledge that is vital for living with, and not against, natural climate cycles. Indigenous knowledge comes from generations of on-country observation, measurement and experience, and is passed down as songlines, in ceremonies where parts of the journey are known and expressed by the people from the different countries. The lines simplify a complex journey of transformation in water flows between the polar regions: Southern Ocean currents spiral clockwise and are transformed by complex forces to an anticlockwise movement as they reach the north pole.

Video recording of me with choreographer Barbara Cuckson at the Rozelle School of Visual Arts
Monday 1st June 2020

I ask real-time evolutionary biologist Sinead Collins (Edinburgh University),

“…I am playing with an idea for a dance and animation, about change and transformation. Can you please check this idea for its scientific accuracy?”

Sinead responds: “…The current idea is about right, yes. And the dancing is beautiful. What are you planning to do with this? I especially love the parenthetical comments about your arms being all over the place. It cracked me up.”

I say,

“…Ha! What to ‘do’ with this? Well, I’m just doing it, and this vid is a part of whatever ‘it’ turns out to be. I do this kind of stuff as a way of learning and that day I learnt that I the dance must have an anchoring structure, so my arms need discipline! And that structure is coming from more disciplined feet Weird, hey.”

Posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2020