Rhythm in the Bay

Both animals and humans have a sense of acceptable distance between species but a baited camera can remove this boundary. When watching, to what extent do we project ourselves on the subject being observed? What does it mean to actually see an animal while being aware of our perceptual processes? In describing his method and attempting to understand the animals he observed, Darwin relied on what he called sympathy within social animals. In his 1847 The Descent of Man, Darwin suggests that sympathy is an instinctive emotion at the core of sociability. Viewers of this work will participate in the act of observation. While observing, the artist invites the viewer to actually see the animal. Viewers are encouraged to relax into their instinctive ability to empathise across species and rely on our common ancestry to seek out a deeper understanding of the animals on display. The work asks the viewers to be aware of their style of observation while participating in the act of observation. The broader dialogue that Nature in the Dark propagates in the screening setting may encourage the viewer to take on a more subjective observation while the clinical look and feel of the video composition suggests the affectless empiricism of objective observation and cataloging scientific information.

The source material for Rhythm in the bay stems from Point Addis Marine National Park and Merri Marine Sanctuary and was provided by Deakin University and Parks Victoria, Roger Fenwick (Parks Victoria), and Alan Beckhurst (Parks Victoria).

Olaf Meyer is a multimedia artist and experimental 3d animator. With various academic awards from Melbourne’s best universities Meyer brings decades of practical experience into the arts and entertainment, commercial and promotional sectors of the community. His installation works and video animations were exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria, Span Galleries and George Paton Galleries among others. In 2013 Meyer was commissioned by the City of Melbourne to produce a series of public art works featuring video projection. Now working at Multimedia Events Australia, Meyer is actively involved in the arts community as a full time artist and technical director for various local government bodies and festivals including the Gertrude Street Projection Festival, Melbourne Spring Fashion week, Melbourne Music Week, Future Music festival and multiple commercial agencies. Meyer continues to collaborate with Melbourne based software developers and artists to create and progress interactive video performance and projection mapping at music and arts festivals worldwide.
Website