Portal / 2022
A VR experience of the
2021 sculpture
XRWA Hackathon Showcase
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
Perth Cultural Centre
Boorloo / Perth
15 – 18 September, 2022
Artists: Alisa Blakeney, Claire B. Bushby and Donna Franklin
Unity/Unreal Developer: Ajith Somangili
3D Technical Artist: Zachary McIntyre
Cultural Collaborator: Jayden Boundry
Sound Artist: W. Sze Tsang
Portal presents a spatial exploration of Moodjar (Nuytsia floribunda), a hemi-parasitic, 40-million year old tree, endemic to Western Australia, recently considered an indicator species. Highly sacred in Noongar culture, it is as a place where ancestors rest before they travel on. As colonial agricultural practices cleared the land, this tree remained steadfast and untouched: seeking out nutrients from other plants, cutting telephone lines with its sickle-like nodules. The knotted relations of this tree with soil, other living matter and social modes of existence and practice troubles the boundaries of what constitutes one entity, body or world.



