Artist Statement - Oliver Hunter
Oliver Hunter is a Melbourne-based artist and founder/coordinator of the contemporary art space Top Shelf Gallery. His practice encompasses contemporary and traditional approaches to media through the investigation of foraged materials, online cataloging, drawing and installation.
For the Waking Dream project, Oliver will create an hands-on installation where participants can observe and interact with microscopic moss-borne animals called tardigrades via a digitally-projected interface. Visitors can either relax and view the tiny creatures projected onto the ceiling of a translucent fabric dome, or manipulate the moss sample at a lab desk in another area, nourishing it with water and altering the animal's environment. The work intersects with questions of the body's boundaries, ethical questions considering interaction with non-human life forms, and the complementarity of dreamlike observation (the viewing dome) and conscious manipulation (interaction with the microscope and samples).
The project came about through an initial dream image the artist had of a house separated into two distinct regions, one for dreaming and one for interacting with the world. In bringing this image into the waking world, Oliver Hunter seeks to maintain and investigate links with not only the individual subconscious, but with other 'invisible' worlds and entities that exist within this one.
For the Waking Dream project, Oliver will create an hands-on installation where participants can observe and interact with microscopic moss-borne animals called tardigrades via a digitally-projected interface. Visitors can either relax and view the tiny creatures projected onto the ceiling of a translucent fabric dome, or manipulate the moss sample at a lab desk in another area, nourishing it with water and altering the animal's environment. The work intersects with questions of the body's boundaries, ethical questions considering interaction with non-human life forms, and the complementarity of dreamlike observation (the viewing dome) and conscious manipulation (interaction with the microscope and samples).
The project came about through an initial dream image the artist had of a house separated into two distinct regions, one for dreaming and one for interacting with the world. In bringing this image into the waking world, Oliver Hunter seeks to maintain and investigate links with not only the individual subconscious, but with other 'invisible' worlds and entities that exist within this one.