[Coral-List] Coral Rekindling Venus film at ICRS 2012, Australia

Anya Salih A.Salih at uws.edu.au
Sat Jul 7 18:11:51 EDT 2012


Hi everyone,

Those of you attending the ICRS2012 in Cairns might like to see the film 'Coral - Rekindling Venus' by Lynette Wallworth. It's a truly spectacular cinematography, complemented by stunning and mesmerizing soundtrack. My favorite topic - coral fluorescence - is shown in beautiful detail.

"The unique film immerses the audience in an underwater world of sights and sounds of an ecosystem at great risk from climate change."

Screening (abbreviated version of 20 min) will be at ICRS2012
on Thursday 12 July between 1:15-1:45pm (lunch-time break)
Details of the venue will be available at the registration desk later in the week.

The film is currently playing in planetariums around the world, so most of you have a chance to see it as it should be seen - in surround space and sound. The preview is also available at:

http://coralrekindlingvenus.com/

The song 'RISE', written by Anthony Hegarty for the film, can be downloaded from the website.
We probably should have made it the theme song for ICRS2012!

Check out the extraordinary 'Rekindling Venus Augmented Reality' downloads that allow to connect to the worlds reefs in 3D via a set of seven poster of fluorescent corals. These are activated by the RKV Corals Augmented Reality app downloadable onto mobile phones. "The posters open a virtual porthole to coral reefs including a data feed to current coral hotspots around the world". Anyone with an iPhone can now track coral reef seawater hot spots around the world!

The artist statement:
      "Imagine global co-operation for a global problem. Imagine corals as the barometer of climate change. Imagine we are the pivot point. Imagine rekindling Venus.
      My intent is to leave the audience with a sense of wonder for the complexity of the coral community and a deep-felt longing to see it survive.
      What is apparent when you watch the film is the remarkable survival mechanisms already at play in the community of coral reefs, mechanisms that will be put to the test in the coming years. We might see ourselves as two different communities interconnected in our own survival".
      Lynette Wallworth

"Lynette Wallworth is an Australian artist whose immersive video installations reflect on the connections between people and the natural world. Her work uses photography, film and interactive technologies, like touch-based interfaces, to engage viewers and allow them to experience her works intuitively. Often working in series or meditations on one theme, her measured pace suggests that patient observation might lead to richer understanding between ourselves and the natural environment. Beauty, revelation and wonder are celebrated in these works." http://coralrekindlingvenus.com/about/lynette-wallworth/

"Walworth says she created the film to move people with the beauty of coral reefs. “It’s an incredible, rich community that will be destroyed with very little temperature change,” she says. Her reason for linking the coral to the transit of Venus, she explains, was to remind people of the example of global cooperation in 1769 when Captain Cook and international collaborators saw the transit take place in Tahiti. Wallworth says: 'We need this cooperation again. Territories really don’t matter'.......The film also includes footage taken using a fluorescent microscope fitted with a highly sensitive camera, such as weirdly intimate shots into the mouths of the multicoloured polyps taken by marine biologist Anya Salih, who Wallworth credits as her scientific adviser on the film.”  from New Scientist   http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2012/06/the-deep-space-of-coral-reefs..html

So those of you interested in coral fluorescence will enjoy the show!

Regards,
Anya

Dr Anya Salih
Senior Scientist
Manager, Confocal Bio-Imaging Facility
School of Science and Health
Bld S9, Hawkesbury Campus
University of Western Sydney
Australia
tel: 61 2 45701452
a.salih at uws.edu.au

http://www.uws.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/special_features/coral_research/_nocache



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