THRIVING IN THE EXTREME
By Rachael Champion & Patrick Furness (US & GB)
Thriving in the Extreme is an academic conference bringing together a group of extremophiles to discuss the extreme physiological characteristics and environments they inhabit. The extremophiles include a yeti crab and Pompeii worm from hydrothermal vents in the depths of the Pacific Ocean; an Antarctic cryptoendolith who resides inside a rock; and Deinococcus radiodurans, a radiation resistant bacteria. The conference has been organised for the benefit of the human species who are researching methods for surviving on Earth in the face of climate change in Age of the Anthropocene.
BIO
Rachael and Patrick were both born in 1982, in the early era of the Anthropocene epoch. Rachael makes site-specific artworks that explore physical, material, and historical relationships between ecology, industry, and the built environment. Her works are large in scale and typically consist of living organisms and ubiquitous building materials. Patrick is interested in play, interactivity, fantasies, technologies, rituals, animals, conspiracy theories and the mind-extruding possibilities of infinite multiverses. His works consolidate as videos, sounds, performance, lectures and electronics that are often physically engaged with by the audience. Together, they have started to congeal as a symbiotic, costumed, performative group that are interested in the biological stories of the universe.