Warming Up Festival Tolhuistuin (Oct 2022)
The Visual Methodologies Collective has set out to sea with the installation Reflections on Water, their latest work on climate change and imagination.
The installation was shown during the Warming Up Festival at Tolhuistuin, which presents arts & entertainment projects around climate change, focused on systemic change: not just tech solutions, but social justice first.
Unlike anything else, the arts can provide a safe space for imagining, experimenting and practising new ways of relating to the world. In the context of a long-running impact campaign, inspiration turns into action.
The Visual Methodologies Collective turned to video and computer vision to respond to the climate crisis. Using archival materials from the Institute of Sound and Image, this ongoing project explores through existing visuals and sounds new possible imaginaries and depictions of oceans, rivers and the creatures they home.
The installation grew over the five days of the festival as visitors were invited to add their perspectives to this emerging undersea world by creating a speculative bestiary of imagined sea creatures.
The Visual Methodologies Collective is a research group specialising in visual and digital research for social and cultural issues. It is based at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industries. Their interests lie at the intersections of visual culture, digital research, information design, media theory, data visualisation, storytelling, and critical making.
The exhibition is part of Climate Imaginaries at Sea, a joint program by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Rietveld Academy and DAS Graduate School that explores possible futures in and around water through a range of artistic and participatory research practices. This program is supported by the Centre of Expertise for Creative Innovation (CoECI).