FLASHOVER
Flashover reimagines a devastating moment of terror and beauty from the Black Summer fires. Pieced together from the memories of volunteer firefighters, Flashover contemplates the cycle of bushfires fuelled by the climate emergency and our collective inability to break society’s disastrous habitual loops. It evokes fires past, present, and the inferno to come if we refuse to act.
Flashover invites you to look beyond the human viewpoint to encounter bushfires from the perspectives of flora, fauna, and the fire itself by exploring a labyrinth of minuscule and monumental screens. Created by leading artist-researchers from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, distinguished guest artists, and volunteer firefighters, Flashover combines cutting-edge photography, animation, and immersive sound techniques to contemplate bushfires at a stunning level of intimate beauty and awe.
Flashover – A short documentary film about the project, its call to action, firefighters, creative team, and technology – 10 minutes – created by Latitude.
LEAD CREATIVES
Phillip Wilkinson is a lecturer in Virtual Production at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and a digital media artist working in expanded photography. His practice explores the entanglements of person, place, and imaging technology.
Robert Walton is an artist and director recognised with multiple awards for his work in theatre, screen, installation, writing, interactive art, and research. He is the Dean’s Research Fellow at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne. In this role, he leads the development of performances and artworks that explore the creative potential of ancient and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence/automated intuition, theatre, virtual holograms, swarm robotics, standing stones, bacterial bioluminescence, algorithmic ritual, MR/XR, storytelling, ambient computing, virtual production, and fire. www.robertwalton.net
CJ Taylor is a visual artist living on bushland in Peramangk and Kaurna country on the Fleurieu Peninsula in southern Australia. His custodianship of 44 acres of Heritage Listed native remnant woodland, biodiversity projects and activism intimately shapes his practice. His experiences as a volunteer firefighter during Black Summer and the climate crisis are of primary importance to his current work. It was during a NSW deployment in 2019 that he was involved in a flashover. www.cjtaylor.art
Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey are artists staying on Kulin country, known for creating unexpected situations for listening. Their long-term, award-winning collaborative practice explores listening in both human and non-human ecologies, engaging with new processes, technologies, and audiences through public interventions. They collaborate with cultural groups, experts, and emerging technologies to create ensemble-driven works. Their current interests include acoustics of the dark, existential risk, and ecological and cultural impacts. Based in Naarm/Melbourne, their works have been presented and commissioned globally, including Setouchi Triennale, Theatre der Welt Germany and Brighton Festival. Their awards include the Australia Council National Experimental Arts Award. www.madeleineandtim.net
Kris Bird is a set and costume designer with a background in architecture and Lecturer in Design and Production at the Victorian College of the Arts. She has experience designing exhibition spaces and immersive experiences. www.krisbird.com.au
StudioBento is an award-winning production studio based in Melbourne, founded by Anna Brady and Lester Francois. StudioBento specialises in creating immersive content. Their award-winning immersive projects have screened at Cannes, SXSW Austin, The New York Film Festival, and more. Anna and Lester are passionate about exploring the intersection of human stories and cutting-edge technology. www.studiobento.tv
With contributions from Gina Moore (creature animation), ThingFX (flame simulation), Siyi Wang (camera animation), Kennardi Sebastian (texture painting)
