Lillian Whitaker
(2020)
Installed: Multichannel installation with stereophonic audio.
4mx4m
02:58 (looped)
Vanishing Bounty (2020), takes the form of an infinitely looped three-channel video installation with stereophonic audio. While the 4 square metre work's visual characteristics initially appear inexplicable, the exhibited specimens become increasingly recognisable as their ephemeral ice capsules begin to thaw. Sonically, Vanishing Bounty (2020) engages Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response techniques as the rigid crackle of thawing ice amalgamates with an ominous droning synthesiser to provoke physiological reactions in audiences. Materially, this work combines sculptural, photographic, video and sonic elements, and through a complex process of research, preservation, documentation and degeneration, ideas of durational food preservation are explored. The work aims to subtly symbolise deteriorating repercussions of a warming climate on its ability to foster the cultivation and conservation of such food sources. Each frozen specimen represents vegetation which is heavily reliant on pollination for their continued survival; an ecological system which becomes increasingly threatened due to rising temperatures and an ensuing bee population decline. The enrapturing ice represents preservation systems which are reliant purely on temperature. This work intertwines anthropogenic ideas with connected ideas of symbiosis and ecological preservation. The display of this three-channel video is large-scale and set up in a triptych formation, placing an undeniable emphasis on the chronology and linearity of time.