Words for water is an exploration into the many aspects of the chemical of H20. Water makes up over 70 per cent of the human body, it is essential for sustaining life and has massive social and cultural significance.
Water may seem ubiquitous, but it has some rather uncommon properties. At the atomic level, water can influence how life and landscapes form, such as how water moves through a plant and how rivers meander around bends. It is also the only chemical that be formed in three states – vapour, liquid and solid.
My focus will be on expanding an ongoing project that uses augmented media tools to evoke a meditative work focusing on the concept water. Stage 1 of “Words for Water” was presented at the MARart exhibition held as part of ISMAR2013 (The International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality).
By using a visual ‘trigger’ audiences are able to use their mobile phones and hand held devices to access the work. The work is designed to be totally transportable and ‘fluid’, allowing people to access the work from both physical and virtual spaces.
The process for developing the content has involved using online social networks to gather the word for water in many languages. To date I have gathered over thirty languages, including eight Indigenous Australian languages. This project seeks to raise awareness of the significance of water to humanity – its critical importance to our existence: spirituality, culture, health and ecological sustainability.
At the SCANZ residency, the goal is to build on the collaborative aspect of this project by engaging other residents and participants to add their stories about water.
The intention is to also exhibit the existing video piece as a projection and as an augmented media work in the exhibition/screening.
This project is seen as an evolving dialogue about the importance of water to all humanity and our need to acknowledge water as integral to life and spirit.
Useful links
http://bytetime.4ormat.com/
http://geokult.com/2013/10/07/auras-for-words-for-water/
http://geokult.com/2013/09/22/words-for-water-stage-1-ismar2013-and-marart/
http://geokult.com/2013/10/07/words-for-water-stage-1-some-documentation/
http://youtu.be/Dd0SqODdIOU
This description comes from the proposal for SCANZ 2015:water*peace