French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour describes the precarious niche we inhabit on the thin skin of the Earth as a biofilm.
David Green, Lecturer at Dunedin School of Art and video installation artist, has had a third site-specific video installation at 343 George Street, Dunedin, from 29 July to 10 August 2021. This project is a collaboration with Dunedin Dream Brokerage, supported by the Otago Polytechnic research office and funded in part by the Dunedin School of Art.
David says, "This work is intended to speak to our precarious niche on this fine planetary skin that has made life as we know it possible. From the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean, life’s playground is as slight as the skin of an apple relative to our planet."
David links the installation to exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically goal #6, “Ensure access to water and sanitation for all”, as well as the four cornerstones of Te Whare Tapa Whā which rests on our inalienable requirement for clean fresh water.
Bruno’s Thin Skin design features organic motion dynamics such as tree leaves in the wind, zooplankton, bull kelp flowing in the tide, cataracts, and other small fragments of digital video captured around Te Waipounamu. The digital projections spill out of the shopfront windows and onto the street, image fragments interacting with interior and exterior architectures, cars, trucks, buses, and pedestrians.
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August 2021
Image credit: David Green, all rights reserved