Step into Hayden Fowler’s Dark Ecology

A huge biodome constructed by New Zealand-born artist Hayden Fowler has been set up outside the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) at Circular Quay in Sydney. “Dark Ecology”, a walk-in installation, is part of the MCA’s exhibition New Romance: Art and the Posthuman.

Inside the biodome is a sickly scene: towards the back stands a hollowed out and lifeless-looking tree trunk; in the foreground its companion lies surrounded by blackish branches, some partially submerged in stagnant pools of water. A soundtrack of extinct birds adds a haunting quality to the atmosphere, compounded by a quality of light that (thanks to the kind of horticultural plastic covering the dome) is unearthly. It’s almost a relief to see a single ant run along a twig – and tiny almost imperceptible shoots of grass pushing up at the fringes of the trampled earth.

Fowler describes the work as part “scientific experiment” and part spiritual zone. The aesthetic is inspired by post apocalyptic visions (particularly John Hillcoat’s film adaption of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road), as well as Fowler’s encounters with environmental devastation and his reading on climate change. The goal, Sydney-based Fowler says, is to create an immersive space for people to grieve for the environment.

“We can’t really look at any part of the natural environment now without being aware of climate change,” Fowler says. “There are a whole lot of animals and plants existing now that are effectively extinct because in ten years time, there will be nowhere suitable for them to live.

“I wanted to create a space for people to think and have feelings about [climate change].”

Fowler was born in Te Awamutu in 1973. He lectures in Fine Arts studio at UNSW Art & Design and at the University of Wollongong.

New Romance is on through 4 September.

Original article by Dee Jefferson, Time Out Sydney, July 30, 2016.