“Consider the earth’s history as the old measure of the English yard, the distance from the King’s nose to the tip of his outstretched hand. One stroke with a nail file on his middle finger erases human history”
McPhee, Basin and Range

 

Thinking like a geologist could save the planet, but deep time concepts are extremely difficult to grasp. OBRA’s new line of research has led them underground, to engage with the concept of geological time and the contemporary ecological situation, humanity’s relationship with the Underland, and a personal desire to slow down time.

 

The project draws inspiration from Robert MacFarlane’s book “Underland", where he defines human interaction with the subterranean world in three principle ways; to shelter what is precious, to extract what we deem useful and to dispose of what we no longer want. Using these three entry points OBRA will collaborate with community groups through participative creative projects, encounter scientists, speleologists, archeologists and archivists, go caving, find the source point of mountain streams and ask questions about waste management and burial rites.

 

The outcome of the project will be an audiovisual creation, a series of episodes filmed in and in response to subterranean spaces; a manicure in deep time, an arthritic woman who dreams of transforming into a jellyfish, a chronological choreography of phasing and synchronicity and a personal exploration of the parent/daughter isotope.

 

All these stories are interlinked by a a consideration of the fragile balance between development and loss, the impossibility of stopping time and a hope that the earth itself will survive without us.

 

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