Lena Dobrowolska

Imperfect Meshes: Stories from the Hurricane explores the concept of climate trauma by presenting five stories from the disaster zone of Hurricane Michael. One of the strongest on record, the category five hurricane struck the Florida Panhandle on the 10th of October 2018 leading to the loss of 45 lives. The virtual reality experience combines stories reconstructed from oral testimonies collected on the ground, field recordings and introspective reflections of the first-person narrator with volumetric scans of objects from the disaster zone. The use of movement tracking allows participators to walk freely around the object in an environment that resembles a limbo-like space, a simulation of how it would feel like to be inside a hurricane. Positioned somewhere between a listening archive, a virtual exhibition and hurricane simulation, Imperfect Meshes offers the opportunity to hear and learn from those who experienced the hurricane about life in the prelude, midst and in the aftermath of Michael. By imperfectly rendering often contorted and damaged objects the experience attempts to communicate the trauma of the event through the materiality and the detail of the imperfect 3D scans.

Specifications:

Imperfect Meshes: Stories from the Hurricane, 2019, Immersive room size VR installation utilising HTC Vive headsets, motion sensors, PC backpack computer, fog machine and a wind machine, giclée prints from digital medium format photographs, dimensions 50.5 x 35 cm, 20 min

Imperfect Meshes: Stories from a Hurricane, 2019,  prints from digital medium format photographs, dimensions 50.5 x 35 cm