METAL, OIL PAINT, TIMBER, STRING, SOUND, 4 CHANNEL VIDEO PROJECTION MAPPING
4 x 6 m
7:13 min
Critical Mass, 2014
Critical Mass is a meditation on the impacts of climate change and human-induced environmental catastrophes. The work primarily focuses on air and water pollution, exploring how these issues affect the communities living in the most impacted areas. It examines how historical narratives of unity and sacrifice have often been overshadowed by the destructive forces of capital growth and industrial progress.
The visual language contrasts dark reality with hyperbolic colours, capturing scenes from Mavanie’s immediate surroundings through a filter of ‘rose-coloured’ glasses, evoking a sense of disassociation amidst environmental degradation.
It also addresses the Montara oil spill in 2009, which was the most severe offshore oil disaster in Australia's history, as well as the Ebola outbreak that was currently unfolding. Interwoven with this are fragments of unsettling footage depicting WWII era propaganda featuring seemingly joyful women and children preparing for war.
Critical Mass | Software Preview
A software (VDMX/Madmapper) preview of the footage that is projected onto the spheres in the installation