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Strange Weather
Other creative works - Curated Exhibition

Strange Weather

Megan Williams and Leah Barclay
Strange Weather [Exhibition] (University of the Sunshine Coast Art Gallery, 25-May-2024–03-Aug-2024)
International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), 29th (Brisbane, Australia, 21-Jun-2024–29-Jun-2024)
2024
url
https://www.usc.edu.au/art-gallery/exhibitions/strange-weatherView
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Abstract

Visual arts The creative arts Australian Art Queensland art Art and technology Art and the environment ISEA2024 Queensland Indigenous Indigenous Art
Research Background: In recent years, long-standing global risks such as inflation and geopolitical conflict have been compounded by emerging risks, including high levels of debt, social unrest, low economic growth, rapid technological advancement, and climate change, to create a landscape that feels both “wholly new and eerily familiar” (World Economic Forum, 2023). In response, the exhibition ‘Strange Weather’ asked how artists are using technology to produce, sense and interpret notions of strangeness and uncertainty arising from this landscape. Research Contribution: The research approached weather as both an environmental phenomenon and a cultural metaphor, proposing that shifts in atmospheric conditions are analogous to the broader systemic instabilities shaped by geopolitics, postcolonial histories, emergent technologies, and ecological and climate disruption. The artists selected for the exhibition either use technological tools not commonly used in art production, such as sensing devices, environmental data, surveillance, and satellite imaging, or employ more established modes, such as sculpture, photography, and moving image, in unexpected ways. It examined how these tools and modes are used to interpret emerging forms of strangeness and uncertainty linked to climatic, geopolitical, and ecological disruption that are not easily captured by conventional tools alone. The research contributed original insights into how artists use scientific data as experimental material, and how technology-focused exhibitions structured around metaphor can offer an affective framework for audiences to engage with geopolitical and ecological issues beyond conventional scientific or documentary approaches. Research Significance: Williams and Barclay were commissioned by the International Symposium on Electronic Art Committee to curate the exhibition for ISEA2024 Everywhen, an internationally recognised forum for peer-reviewed creative research at the intersection of art, science and technology. Presenting the exhibition within this context attracted a global audience and positioned the project within an international discourse. The exhibition was well attended and well received (2,771 visitors; average satisfaction rating of 4.2 out of 5) and supported by a program of public events that facilitated critical exchange among artists, academics, students, and the wider community, contributing to broader cultural understanding of the strangeness arising from environmental and geopolitical uncertainty.

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