The Becalmed Heart is a large-scale immersive installation that invites audiences to enter a world created from refuse. It is a meditation upon our waste and the impact of human intervention on nature. Inspired by images of vast plastic islands floating across the surface of the ocean, landfill sites and the work of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky this project attempts to capture the grotesque beauty of devastated landscapes.

“…calm and shocking. …It is a powerful reflection on consumption, mass consumerism and our impact on environment. A strong, vivid comment about our relationship with nature and the impact of climate change, executed in the most brutally beautiful way.” – Fenella Kernebone

PROJECT CREDITS: The Becalmed Heart, 2015. Creative producer and direction by Brienna Macnish // key collaborator and visual design by Clare McCracken // key collaborator and sound design and composition by Robert Jordan // lighting design by Christopher Page.

The Becalmed Heart was developed with support from Underbelly Arts and premiered at Underbelly Festival, 2015. It was supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and by the City of Melbourne through the Arts House 4 Walls initiative.