Reality will blend with the virtual in the augmented reality experience Slow Walker, which will depict a microscopic organism – the humble yet darn-near indestrucible tardigrade – as a gargantuan being above the Melbourne Museum Plaza.
Created by artist Peder Bjurman, the tardigrade, also known as the water bear, will be visible on your mobile device, as a colossal being hovering and interacting with its surroundings.
Peder Bjurman’s Slow Walker at Now or Never
- The Australian premiere of Peder Bjurman’s Slow Walker
- A fascinating augmented reality experience
- Above the Melbourne Museum Plaza
- Thurs 22 Aug — Sat 31 Aug | 24hr
- Melbourne Museum – Plaza
- Free
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Walk alongside some of the most resilient creatures in the universe. Contemplate. Linger.
Tardigrades are living organisms capable of resisting extreme temperatures of cold and heat. They survive in space, can remain frozen for decades, resist vacuum and even radiation. What threatens them is climate change, as rising temperatures change the environment of their natural habitats.
Slow Walker by writer and director Peder Bjurman draws attention to the significance of these microscopic species by transforming them into one colossal being hovering above our city, slowly moving, loping and interacting with its surroundings. Pointing the screen of your mobile device towards the sky, this fascinating micro-animal becomes monumental through geo-located Augmented Reality technology: a digital object that is a magnificent sculptural piece in its own right.
Watch this ephemeral being as it moves through the public space of the Melbourne Museum Plaza accompanied by a soundtrack created by Abdul Mogard and AI-generated narration.
To experience Slow Walker,download the free app PROMENAD available for Android and iPhone, and bring your headphones.
