4 DEGREES [COMING SOON]
Our public discourse stands on the brink of permanent and irreparable polarisation.
But what if the thing that comes between us isn't facts... it's feelings?
​
Polarisation has brought Australia's national energy and environmental strategies to complete stalemate. But what if the problem isn't a lack of knowledge, or misinformation, or an unwillingness to make hard decisions when their impacts seem so far off? What if we can't agree because we just don't feel connected anymore?
​
My PhD research – and work by many other researchers – tells us that public discourses don't break down just because we can't agree on the facts. They break down because our visceral experiences of the issues are so disparate, that it's hard to imagine good people disagreeing with our most passionately-held views. In this vacuum of trust, information – and misinformation – are weaponised.
​
I believe that we can only conduct meaningful debates about the big issues when we've rediscovered some common ground.
​
4 Degrees is a virtual reality experience that immerses the participant in a world impacted by four degrees of global warming... and then brings them back to a world where change is still possible.
​​​The experience foregrounds questions of trust, the 'accepted science' and media influence. It speaks to the concerns of those who feel that we are not doing enough, and those who worry that corrupt agendas are driving environmental policy. ​
​
Featuring stories from people who have been impacted by climate change, and from those who find themselves excluded from the mainstream discourses about the human causes of climate change, the work expands on my agenda of facilitating conversation in polarised spaces. By inviting contribution from all sides of controversial public debates, I aim to create sites that transcend polarisation and engender community-centric approaches to pressing issues.
​
​
You enter the space and take off your shoes.​
​
​You are helped into the VR headset.
​
You take one step forward, and as your feet land on the cool, damp moss of the rainforest floor, the humidity fills your lungs are you are serenaded with the sounds of the tropics. The forest enfolds you in its fecund embrace, its aromas of damp, and life, and rot...
...and smoke.
​
The forest is hiding a secret, and as you take your second step, your feet find new ground, and the ​secret is revealed through the words and images, sounds and textures, of those who have seen, and heard, and fled, and stood their ground.
​
You have taken the first steps in a journey into the wild heart of Australia's battle for a shared vision of our future. In the next five minutes, you are invited to tread the path with those who believe, and those who doubt, and with those whose voice is heard in the whisper of the wind.
​
Before we debate, let's create some common ground.
​
RESEARCH STATEMENT
4 Degrees is a scripted VR experience designed to provide an intervention into Australia’s politicised discussion about anthropogenic climate change. Participants will undertake a five-minute journey through a world impacted by warming, and hear from interviewees who have lived experience of both sides of the climate debate. They will feel, hear, see and smell the visceral experience of fleeing an uncontrolled forest fire, in an experience that combines filmic storytelling, immersive worlds, documentary and generated AI material.
Drawing on Foucault’s theories of power, and prominent contemporary voices in science and technology studies, my documentary practice rejects the notion that some voices should be excluded from media and public discourse because they purportedly spread misinformation. Instead, I call for a deepening of engagement between contemporary knowledge work, particularly in science, and the public sphere. Within this broader project, I specifically seek to reinstate to public discourse the subjugated knowledges and viewpoints that ‘refute’ accepted scientific narratives, in order to conduct a meaningful dialogue with people who have turned away from mainstream knowledge. Instead of treating so-called ‘misinformed’ views as ‘dangerous,’ my work seeks to include these views in our most important public conversations. In line with research into deliberative discourse, I hold that misinformation is less of a threat to our knowledge democracy than polarisation.
Drawing on my experience with Open Space New Media Documentary, I will interview a range of participants about why they hold the views they do, and how those views affect their lives, relationships and experiences of the media. Including these voices in the VR experience, alongside the voices of the researchers whose work in climate science has shaped the current understanding of what a future with substantial global warming might look like.
In the first instance, this experience is designed for politicians, lobbyists, journalists and people whose thought leadership shapes public policy and the national discourse. Future iterations of 4 Degrees will be reimagined for audience/participants in schools, community organisations and corporate settings.