But there’s no artesian water, though we’ve passed three thousand feet,
And the contract price is growing and the boss is nearly beat.
But it must be down beneath us, and it’s down we’ve got to go,
Though she’s bumping on the solid rock four thousand feet below.
Sinking down, deeper down, Oh, we’re going deeper down …
—Song of The Artesian Water, Banjo Patterson, 1896.
The Thirst project utilises VR technology, stylised 3D animated graphics and an infrasonic score to draw attention to subterranean activity. The viewer follows the movement of tree roots in pursuit of the precious resource water. Threats from mining, agriculture and drought to Australia’s Great Artesian Basin, the largest body of underground fresh water beneath 23% of the continent, have inspired the development of the project. It is hoped that the embodied sensory experiences that immersion in such VR experiences afford will contribute to a broader cultivation of environmental sensitivity and ultimately wise management of precious natural resources such as water.
The project explores a creative relationship between science and the arts, in which science provides insight into environmental issues, and art applies an expressive ‘brush’ to such themes in an effort to engage via the senses, to generate empathy, and to activate social change.
Thirst: experiments in VR, eco-acoustics and environmental empathy.
VR project installation_360 stationary viewing.
for 360 video (choose 2 or 4k settings): https://vimeo.com/274775591
Contributors:
Creative Producer, Co-Director - Peter Moyes
Animator, Co-Director - Louise Harvey
Sound Recordist, Composer - Leah Barclay