Infra Red Projects

You Yangs, VIC

About 200 million years ago, the sea level receded and the overlaying sediments were eroded away, exposing the You Yangs granite as an island in a shallow sea. The granite that forms the You Yang Ranges was originally a mass of magma that had worked its way up into the surrounding sedimentary rocks. Exploring this area on a 40-degree day was incredible and using the application of infra red allowed some incredible results.

Nowhere to be Found

Created during Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown, ‘Nowhere to be Found’ examines the changing narrative of everyday life for Victorians in 2020. The work reflects an artistic progression from p1xel’s previous Chernobyl series ‘Alpha Beta Gamma’, these new works highlight the tension through barren streetscapes depopulated by a threat to public health.

An infrared approach was adopted to invoke the emotionally charged reality of the barren urban landscape. The past and present intersect as Victorians are invited to acknowledge the juxtaposition between past life under COVID-19 restrictions and the freedoms of present life that are, nonetheless, still weighed down by the residue of the pandemic.

The sky commonly reflects freedom and hope, but the red sky featuring prominently in this series skews the familiar with an ominous undertone, signifying the unknowns of the recent past spilling into the present. This fits well within Susan Sontag’s notion of” a pseudo-presence and token of absence”.