Off the Charts is a series of digital works that employ the rhythm and format of social media to explore how our interpretation, expression and articulation of extreme weather events are shaped by digital communication.
The Instagram account ‘sky.swatches’ chronicles daily samples of the smoke-shrouded sky of the 2019/2020 bushfire season. The resulting colour palette is compiled in the work Shades of Black Summer, recalling the eery light and dirty atmosphere that caused the world’s worst air quality.
Future forecasts, @heatmapcolours, is a live Twitter bot that algorithmically generates nonsensical forecasts using words related to emotions that extreme weather can trigger. Referencing the deep pink and purple hues added to the Bureau of Meteorology’s heatmap in 2013 to represent unprecedented temperatures, the tweets are accompanied with their own invented colour swatch.
Off the Charts, 2021, video installation, dimensions variable. Installation view, Watch this Space, Alice Springs, 2021.
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Mostly burning. Slight chance of unexpected high tide then becoming disheartened in the wee hours. Velvet Lipstick: https://t.co/eX82xB6p9o -
Partly burning. 100 percent chance of record-breaking showers then becoming care free in the twilight. Spellbound R… https://t.co/ZCA3VpE2DG
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Partly dry. 10 percent chance of fresh storms then becoming unsettled in the aurora. Deep Burgundy: https://t.co/z7K0pRD7y0
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Partly hot. 20 percent chance of unbelievable pity then becoming uninterested in the dawn. Raspberry Blush: https://t.co/NUv2ygKDKQ
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Partly cloudy. Moderate chance of crazy goodluck then becoming boring in the happy hour. Foreboding Ruby: https://t.co/8hBlJ5VkfR