Joseph Michael
New Zealand
Joseph Michael’s artworks embody a magical balance between fine art and forward-thinking technical knowledge.
His large-scale projections of icebergs on monumental buildings bring the remoteness of the Antarctic to the core of urban centres, thus challenging a human centred worldview, by collapsing the space and time relationship between humans and the natural world and bringing into stark focus the consequences of our treatment of the planet.
In September 2019 Michael's installation "Voices for the Future" lit up the United Nations General Assembly and Secretariat buildings in New York ahead of the UN’s Climate Action Summit and global school strikes. The artwork showcased powerful visuals of an iceberg slowly crashing down the sides of the 500-foot tall United Nations building, followed by the voices of the six young advocates addressing their hopes and fears for the future, in relation to the climate crisis.
Michael's current project entitled Raised up Sky is an augmented reality artwork that explores the interconnectivity of humans and nature through the digital scanning and representation of significant trees from the Amazonian and New Zealand forests.
Joseph is currently an artist in residence at Auckland University of Technology.
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