Coral: Rekindling Venus

January 26th the Embassy of Australia invited me to a screening of a new work by Australian media artist Lynette Wallworth, titled Coral: Rekindling Venus. The film was also in official selection at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The work was designed to be screened in the round and there was no better place to see it than the Einstein Planetarium at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Lynette introduced the film and described it as an immersive experience which invites you to lose yourself in the extraordinary world of coral reef communities. You did feel as if you were sometimes lying on the sea floor and sometimes free floating in the water, with a haunting soundtrack featuring Gurrumul Yunupingu and Antony and the Johnsons.

"My intent is to leave the audience with a sense of wonder for the complexity of the coral community and a deep-felt longing to see it survive. What is apparent when you watch the film is the remarkable survival mechanisms already at play in the community of coral reefs, mechanisms that will be put to the test in the coming years. We might see ourselves as two different communities interconnected in our own survival." 

For more on the film including an Interactive Coral Map and to play the track "Rise" by Antony and the Johnsons go to:

http://coralrekindlingvenus.com/