Live Event & Installations
Mission for Earth Habitation
Collider
"Humankind has committed to spending trillions of dollars and hundreds of years to settle a dusty alien planet with -65° temperatures. But Earth is only 1°C hotter than the optimal temperature for human life.What if we focused our efforts closer to home.It’s not so science fiction.
We have all the tools we need to make Earth more habitable right now.Maybe then we wouldn’t need to jump planet so soon."Commissioned by Howatson+Company for the University of New South Wales, Mission For Earth Habitation was a one day exhibition staged on the University’s annual Open Day.Created as a takeover of the UNSW Esme Timbery Theatre space, the exhibition was designed as a call to arms to compel new students to think about career choices that could benefit the planet.
The exhibition was created to take place across multiple areas within the building as an exploratory multi-disciplinary journey. We used a range of physical, sonic and screen formats such as tiled LED walls, projections and suspended monitors to explore the themes of the concept in a way that brought a richer experience to visitors.The event needed to have a cohesive and unique presence across a large internal space while at the same time working in harmony with the university’s established brand system.
We collaborated with the UNSW Design Futures Lab to create a series of bespoke sculptural pieces that supported the exhibition messaging and visual themes. One of the largest pieces, the 1.6m diameter mountain peak was carved by the lab’s six axis CNC robot arm. All of the sculptures were designed to evoke a feeling between science and art.
The hero piece of the exhibition was a 90sec full CG film that was directed by Collider’s Glenn Stewart and scored by Australian composer Richard Pike (PVT). Created to be highly immersive and captivating within the context, the film explored the central themes of the exhibition through the creation of hypereal and unfamiliar landscapes and scenarios.One of the main challenges for the exhibition was to repurpose a highly functional space into something transporting and immersive. Through the use of simple spatial reorganising and lighting we were able to keep the themes of the exhibition clear throughout the journey.
CREW
Glenn Stewart, film director
Andrew van der Westhuyzen, creative director - installation
Hugh Carrick-Allan, Technical Director
Joey Harper, 3D animation designer
Hoss Ghonouie, Head of Studio Production
Richard Pike, music composer
Howatson+Company Team
Art Director: Elaine Li
Copywriter: Jared Wicker
Head of Production: Holly Alexander
Exhibition sculptures in collaboration with UNSW Design Futures Lab.