Announcing the next Immersive exhibition in Undershed - FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth
Posted on Thu 13 March
Award-winning artists ScanLAB Projects bring FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth to Undershed Immersive Gallery from Fri 2 May.
Undershed, Bristol’s groundbreaking new immersive art gallery from Watershed, is soon to open its next exhibition, FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth, on Fri 2 May, created by award-winning artists ScanLAB Projects. The exhibition is generously supported by Arts Council England.
FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth challenges how we all perceive change – re-imagining the classic timelapse approach pioneered by BBC Natural History Unit with cutting-edge technological tools.
This stunning multi-screen artwork asks you to stop, slow down, and consider the different time scales of life on earth that exist all around us. In a dark room, you are surrounded by eight screens displaying meditative imagery as sounds drift through the space.
A pumpkin grows. Spring breaks. A thousand tonnes of steel are crushed. Sand ebbs and flows while a cliff retreats. 268 cows are milked. Leaves turn to amber. 519 pints of milk are drunk.
Over the course of two years, ScanLAB Projects documented the British countryside and urban cityscape in millimetre-precise 3D detail. With this enormous 50TB dataset, a brand-new kind of immersive artwork was made – telling a unique story of the impact of human industry and the immense forces of nature. The resulting work bears witness to environmental change on a scale impossible to see directly with the human eye - or the lens of traditional cameras.
Amy Rose, Undershed Curator, says:
“This artwork challenges and reimagines the way we perceive our world. The distance between our everyday reality and the process of climate change is often too complex to grapple with. It is rare to find artwork that meets this vital challenge of perception - that has so much political consequence - with grace and beauty. And it is a joy to bring such a celebrated piece to Bristol – particularly when it has been loved by audiences all over the world on the festival circuit. ScanLAB Projects are putting contemporary technological tools into the service of art and magic.”
Matthew Shaw, Creator and Co-founder of ScanLAB Projects says:
“We want our audiences to get lost inside these beautiful datasets, to be overwhelmed by the catastrophic retreat of an entire cliff in front of them, and to follow the movement of a single pebble on the beach beneath their feet,”
The artwork reveals landscape alterations caused by human-centred industry and the immense forces of nature; destruction, extraction, habitation, construction, harvests, growth, and erosion. Three-dimensional stories unfold across an array of screens, scored by a powerful soundscape.
In addition to its merit as an artwork, the data collected and presented by FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth is ground-breaking scientific research. The vast dataset contains empirical evidence used by the British Geological Survey to perceive and investigate coastal erosion in a brand-new way. The results of the Innovate UK-funded research and development process continue to be used by researchers from universities and institutes across the UK.
William Trossell, Creator and Co-founder of ScanLAB Projects says:
“FRAMERATE is fundamentally about change, which is global, personal and challenging. There is so much anxiety when we consider climate change and our environmental future - so we’ve created a place where people can think deeply and calmly about what’s coming. It’s a gentle place that helps open our mindset so we can focus on hopeful change - in our minds, our lives, and our personal impact.”
Reflecting and deepening the studio’s relationship to sustainability is central to the core artistic vision and message of FRAMERATE. As part of the work, ScanLAB Projects interrogated the environmental impacts of the production and the general studio practice. They have created policies and tools to monitor project impact and foreground mindful decision-making across the studio. Results include a 70% reduction in the emissions in the 2021 on location data capture in Glasgow, as well as publishing policies, tracking tools, annual reports and case studies for other studios to study and adapt.
Alongside the exhibition, ScanLAB Projects will be running a series of participatory workshops to introduce attendees to 3D scanning. Targeted at young people and adults with an interest in environmental and data science, and at artists who want to explore 3D scanning in their own practice. The workshops will be held at Watershed, Knowle West Media Centre, and Somerset Film, and will be free to attend. For more details about the workshops, please email emilia@scanlabprojects.co.uk
Tickets for FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth at Undershed are on sale now.
About Undershed
Undershed has been made possible thanks to support and funding from: The BFI Audience Projects Fund, Arts Council England's Nationally Significant Projects awarding funds from the National Lottery, UWE Bristol, Bristol+Bath Creative R+D and MyWorld.
FRAMERATE: Pulse of the Earth at Undershed in Watershed, Bristol is part of a UK tour to Norfolk and Bristol, made possible by the generous support of Arts Council England.
