Flashover

Flashover is a monumental, immersive media artwork about bushfire. It 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 bush fires at a stunning level of intimate beauty and awe.

Flashover is a free event, with afternoon and evening slots from 12PM - 4PM and 4PM - 8PM from Tuesday 4 February to Friday 14 February. Please register for the day and session you would like to attend.

Accessibility

- Please enter via the Loading Bay entrance accessible from Grant Street (do not enter via the Film and Television Building).
- Audiences are able to move through the exhibition at their own pace.
- Limited seating is available.
- Average viewing time is around 20 minutes.
- This event is wheelchair accessible.

Content Warnings

This experience includes:

- Images and sounds of bushfire emergencies and environments.
- Low light levels.

CREATIVE CREDITS

Concept, Writers, Lead Artists & Directors: CJ Taylor & Robert Walton
Lead Animator & Director: Phillip Wilkinson
Composition & Sound Design: Madeleine Flynn & Tim Humphrey
Installation Design: Kris Bird
Creature Animation: Gina Moore
Producers: StudioBento

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Flashover was created at the LED Volume Studio in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne in partnership with NantStudios (Melbourne). The project was primarily supported by a 2022 grant from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment to support research, education and training in the growing area of Virtual Production.

Initially developed by CJ Taylor and Robert Walton at Adelaide Film Festival Expand Lab. AFF Expand Lab is an initiative of Adelaide Film Festival with Principal Partner The Balnaves Foundation, and the Government of South Australia, Samstag Museum of Art, Art Gallery of South Australia and Illuminate Adelaide.

BIOGRAPHIES

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

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. www.phillipwilkinson.com

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

PARKING

The City of Melbourne has recently changed the parking restrictions around the Southbank Campus. Parking control hours are now expanded to 7am–10pm, seven days per week, and are capped at three hours. A $2-per-hour fee after 7pm is also now in place. There is no change to the $4-per-hour peak rate between 7am–7pm. Parking inspectors are regularly in the area fining drivers who overstay their meter, so we encourage everyone to be aware and avoid an expensive fine. More information.

ACCESSIBILITY

All venues at the Southbank campus are wheelchair accessible. To read more about access services available at our venues, please visit: https://finearts-music.unimelb.edu.au/access-our-events.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please stay home if you feel unwell, even with mild symptoms. Face masks are welcome in all settings for community and personal safety.
Admission to any of our concerts and events is strictly at the discretion of Front of House. We have zero tolerance for any disrespectful behaviour.