OUTSHIFT
The Yolngu term bir'yan, translated as ‘shimmer’ or 'brilliance,' describes the way the eye is captured by the ‘rippling intra-activity’ of lively ecological relationships honed over millennia.* Outshift walked with land guardians, people who engage their communities with protecting nearby wild, finding out that once you see marvels in the scruffy patches of wild walkable from your own front door, they become part of home rather than incidental or expendable. There were three sites: Waterhall, which is being wilded, Benfield Valley which is under threat, and Coldean, where deep community objection could not halt a housing development.

Work was published as an Instagram take-over for Fabrica Gallery and exhibited on ONCA Barge as a short film, sound essay, interactive videowork, and as a ‘walkerscope’ interactive using a Kinect sensor.
*Deborah Bird Rose, 'Shimmer,' Edinburgh University Press 2022
Thanks to Polly Eason of Coldean Community Organisation, Helen Forester of Benfield Valley Project, and Kim Greaves from Friends of Waterhall.
Commissioned by Fabrica, ONCA and The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere