“The Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship was an extraordinary experience that will continue to inspire my artistic creativity for years to come. It is an experience that never leaves you. Beyond the incredible environment itself, the crew, expeditioners and scientists of the Australian Antarctic Division were the epitome of collaboration and deep expert knowledge, which I will continue to draw upon to tell the stories of the data and experiences gathered on the voyage to Antarctica.”

Meet Dr John McCormick

John McCormick is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected media artists.

McCormick is a technology-based artist and researcher with a major interest in human movement. He has collaborated on works worldwide, including at peak festivals ISEA, ZERO1SJ, SIGGRAPH, Melbourne Festival, Venice Biennale, Siggraph Asia, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) London, Ars Electronica, Monaco Dance Forum and Art Science Museum Singapore. John was a founding member of Company In Space, Dancehouse, Squaretangle and Wild System. He is a researcher in the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies and Lecturer in Interactive Media at Swinburne University.

Collaborating with Adam Nash as Wild System, McCormick uses combinations of virtual reality, realtime 3D, generative sound, artificial intelligence and robotics to present absorbing and engaging interactive installations.

Arts Fellowship project

Wild System (John McCormick and Adam Nash) sailed on the final Antarctic voyage of the icebreaker RSV Aurora Australis in 2019/20. They documented the voyage using cutting-edge technologies including drones, a portable motion capture system, ambisonic sound recording, still and 360 degree video cameras and LiDAR scanning. They collected data from the ship, the voyage, the scientists and the crew for the entire six-week voyage.

The data recorded during the voyage will form an immersive exhibition using projection mapping, ambisonic audio, motion sensing and virtual reality (VR). The work will incorporate the crew’s interactions with the ship, physical and mechanical operations, and weather and ocean conditions, resulting in a moving memorial to the iconic vessel.

Find John McCormick’s work

Wild System’s work from their fellowship will exist in different formats, in actual and virtual exhibitions.

Take a virtual tour of RSV Aurora Australis, experience icebreaking in a 360 video (best with a VR headset), and visit Wild System’s website to discover more.

Their work will be exhibited in Hobart at Salamanca Arts Centre in August 2022 as part of Winter Light and the Antarctic Festival.

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