How to Touch a Dragonfly

Kat Austen

Artwork Description:

How to Touch a Dragonfly is a large-scale installation that engenders empathy with dragonflies in the time of anthropogenic climate and biodiversity crises. The installation, a 4m dome that acts as an ultra-low resolution screen, creates an ultra-low-res immersive environment of sound and image displaying dragonflies entangled with landscapes in the post-anthropocene. Dragonflies are able to see more of the visible light spectrum than humans. They are sensitive to temperature and environmental changes, and so their movements have been used by humans as bioindicators to track the effect of climate change and pollution in ecosystems. Symbolic of renewal but also of retribution, these insects have cultural and aesthetic resonance across time and around the globe. The visitor first visually encounters the bared dome structure. Entering the dome via a ramp, the visitor is transported into a soft and enveloping immersive sonic and visual interior, surrounded glowing hexagons made of Korean traditional paper, Hanji, illuminated from behind by video mapped LEDs. A story elaborates through sound and images about the intricate relations between humans, landscapes and habitats for dragonflies. The 360 video, drawing on silhouette animation aesthetics, has been edited both for the installation environment and to better represent the unique characteristics of dragonfly vision. The soundscape wraps itself around the listener while still providing spatialisation. The sound composition includes low frequency sounds transmitted as vibration through the platform for a highly embodied experience.