Slow Hope

“Slow Hope” Greta Cooper 2023, light projection, charcoal, eucalyptus leaves, sand, aluminium pot, and audio recording. Dimensions variable. 00:17:00.

ARTIST STATEMENT : 

“Slow Hope” is a site-specific installation and audio tour that explores ecological grief in the aftermath of the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires that devastated South East Australia.

In this work, viewers are invited to listen to an audio recording of spoken narrative that shares memories of my experience of living on the South Coast of NSW at that time. These stories inform my sensory interventions to un-noticed and uncared for spaces at the ANU School of Art and Design, to create spaces for quiet reflection and contemplation on the anxieties surrounding the climate crisis.

The term “Slow Hope” comes from Christof Mauch’s 2019 essay that argues how hopeful narratives can shift our thinking to allow for creativity and purpose instead of feeling paralysed without downplaying the magnitude of climate change.