“Turbulence as an immersive aesthetic for climate extremes” presented by Helsby-clark

In this paper, I explore how humans may grapple with the shifting interrelationships within climate-fuelled extreme wildfire behaviour and ocean dynamics, and our own role both feeding and being impacted by these permutations. I briefly explore existing approaches to climate aesthetics and representations of turbulence, anchoring these to my practice across two immersive visualisation projects; Ocean Explorer and iFire. I argue that traditionally static renderings miss crucial opportunities to sup-port more embodied understandings which leverage more visceral ways of knowing. I reflect on the nature of the ecosystems under examination as complex networks of interrelationships. In doing so, I draw on both Western and Indigenous philosophies which challenge traditional distinctions between human and nonhuman, machinic and “natural” elements. Ultimately, I prioritise a relational ontology which acknowledges the vitality of these disparate agencies, while recognising asymmetry in power dynamics and the potential for newly emergent social and terrestrial structures. By displacing the human’s role as subject atop a hierarchy of relations, I underscore the need for a more than human, embodied approach to the aesthetics of turbulent climate extremes.