The term ‘as above, so below’ has its origins in an ancient, cryptic text known as the Emerald Tablet. Drawn from a Latin interpretation and adopted by a number of different belief systems, the phrase is commonly used to describe the idea that the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm and vice versa. It can be interpreted to mean that events in the spiritual world are echoed in the physical world, or what exists in the digital or virtual world mimics that in the real world. Further, it might suggest that what occurs inside the human body is mirrored in the surrounding environment, or what happens on a small scale will also take place on a large scale.
In our current state of climate crisis, whereby seemingly minute changes in temperature and sea levels threaten catastrophic changes to the broader ecosystem, ‘as above, so below’ becomes a warning. The exhibition brings together new and recent works by Australian and international artists who engage with our environment by investigating hidden ecosystems, plant communication, endangered species, air quality, eco-acoustics, posthumanism, plant/human relationships, and more.
Artists: Robert Andrew (Australia), Tully Arnot (Australia/Hong Kong), Art for Nons (Lea Luka Sikau, Denisa Půbalová, Antje Jacobs) (Germany, Netherlands, Australia), Michele Barker+Anna Munster (Australia), Kate Geck (Australia), Oliver Hull (Australia), Anna May Kirk (Australia), Ross Manning and Anna Tweeddale (Australia), Daniel Miller (USA), Anna Madeleine Raupach (Australia), Tiare Ribeaux (USA), Scenoscosme (Grégory Lasserre and Anaïs met den Ancxt) (France), Nicole Smede (Australia), Tamiko Thiel (Germany), and Xenoangel (Samuel Twidale and Marija Avramovic) (France).
As Above, So Below forms part of the creative program for the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), one of the world’s pre-eminent electronic art symposiums.
Image: Anna May KIRK ‘Year without a sun’ 2023, installation view.
