The Terrarium

2020, VR environment, duration variable

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The Terrarium situates audiences 300 years into the future, where 90% of the planet’s surface has become covered by water. Modified into a sophisticated cephalopod hybrid through complex genetic splicing programmes, the viewer is released from a terrarium into the open seas to explore their surroundings. Dawood blends scientific prediction and science fiction to imagine a future connected Baltic and Kent shoreline merging fluidly with an extractive colonisation of outer space. Viewers are immersed in an experimental soundtrack by British composer Graham Fitkin, who uses dissonant frequencies to explore the ‘Shifting Baseline’ syndrome, where each generation makes an unconscious shift in expectations of what a healthy ecosystem looks like. This inter-planetary journey highlights the implications of climate change for our marine ecosystems, and the consequences of rising sea levels for all life forms.

Written and Directed by

Shezad Dawood

Produced by

Miranda Sharp

Commissioned / Supported by

Commissioned for Creative Folkestone Triennial 2021 and Kai Art Center by UP Projects and supported by CUPIDO, a project co-funded by the European Union and Arts Council England and Tallinn Culture Department. Courtesy of UBIK Productions.

Exhibited at

Hacer Noche (Oaxaca), 2022

Karachi Biennale (Karachi), 2022

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Lounges, Frieze London and Frieze Masters (London), 2022

Folkestone Triennial (Folkestone), 2021

Kai Art Center (Tallinn), 2020