In partnership with Melbourne International Film Festival A panel of cultural and scientific experts lock horns over the way cinema and other forms of entertainment have advanced or regressed popular attitudes towards science. In a post-truth world, how have the big and small screens helped or hindered the way we perceive science and technology? Are…
“You built me up. You changed me. You loved me. You left me. Ultimately, you used me – what else can I call it?” Explore the changing use and disuse of urban and industrial spaces, from the point of view of the buildings themselves. How does it feel to have been home to a rave,…
Urban Rivers (USA) Can we game our way to a cleaner world? Take control of our garbage-eating robot either in person or online! Created by Chicago-based collective Urban Rivers, Trash Robot will be trawling Melbourne’s Yarra River collecting rubbish outside of the City’s existing litter traps. And Melbourne’s waterways really need the help – in 2017, they were filled with…
“Rivers signify tribal boundaries, gatherings for corroboree, life, not only for humans but for all living creatures” – Maree Clarke. Mitch Mahoney & Maree Clarke (Australia) Created by Boon Wurrung artist Mitch Mahoney and Mutti Mutti/Yorta Yorta and Boon Wurrung/Wemba Wemba artist Maree Clarke, Eel Trap is a 10-metre installation made of biodegradable reeds and grasses on the Maribyrnong River. Inspired by traditional…
Arne Hendriks (Netherlands) & Mike Thompson (United Kingdom) Do we really understand fat? In November 2017, the 130-tonne ‘Monster of Whitechapel’ was ejected from the bowels of east London. This fatberg – a congealed mass of fat, wet wipes and nappies – stretched the length of nearly two AFL footy ovals, taking workmen armed with shovels and high-powered jets…
Would you wash your hands with soap made from sewage? Catherine Sarah Young (Philippines) Sewer Soaperie turns raw sewage and fat into luxury soaps. Extreme storms now frequently overwhelm drains, pipes and sewerage systems, causing flooding in major cities. Large lumps of coagulated grease, known as ‘fatbergs’, clog the system and create flooding. These greasy beasts are created…
Janna Ahrndt (United States of America) Will you truthfully track your environmental goals? Like a Fitbit for your ethical performance, P@tch is a textile-based new media project inspired by punk and DIY culture. Each homemade P@tch uses self-reporting and environmental sensors to allow the user to track their personal and surrounding pollution. P@tch participants will set…
Sandra and Gaspard Bébié-Valérian (France) and Professor Peter Scales (Australia) Are you flushing a valuable wee-source? Urinotron is a large-scale installation that takes our organic waste (urine) and transforms it into power for your mobile phone, before recycling it back to pure water. Contribute your urine and then put your feet up as the salts in your liquid gold turn into sustainable pee power. Why are we flushing such a valuable resource? Urinotron combines scientific equipment,…
Artist Oliver Kellhammer’s work allows you to watch the mealworms as they dine on polystyrene. Oliver Kellhammer (United States of America) Do solutions to our recycling crisis exist in nature? Nature is outsmarting us. Solutions to our enormous waste problems are often right in front of us. Polystyrene is a non-biodegradable material that is…