ABSENCE/Precense
Absence/ Presence was shot on Black Magic in Tabernas desert, Spain, march, 2023In their collaborative project "Absence/Presence," artists Julia Flux and Hamish Logan delve into the urgent issues of desertification and water scarcity in Spain's Tabernas region. This visual poem captures and translates the natural forces of wind and water into evocative movements and images. By utilizing a strong abstract visual language and spoken word, the project raises critical awareness about the profound impacts of climate change on both the environment and socio-economic migration. Central to their research is the question, "What can a body take and which body are we talking of?"—an inquiry that examines the limits and resilience of both human and ecological bodies in the face of escalating environmental challenges. "Absence/Presence" poignantly reflects on which bodies are affected and considered as valid and the broader implications of climate-induced transformations.
Absence/ Presence. full filmAbsence/Presence Premiere
at Floating University, during the Lios Lab Free Radicals Residency, Autumn 2024
Above: Screening of Absence/Presence as a premier and part of the LIOS Lab 3rd Landscape Beings Residency, within the at Floating University, , Autumn 2024
Third Landscape Beings: Amplifying Absence and Presence
At the intersection of art, ecology, and community, the residency investigated the concept of absence and presence, centering the amplification of both heard and unheard, present and ghostly voices of third landscape beings. The concept of the Third Landscape originates from French landscape architect and thinker Gilles Clément; introduced it in his book Manifesto of the Third Landscape (Manifeste du Tiers Paysage):
These beings inhabit overlooked, marginal spaces that exist at the periphery of human control and intervention, such as urban wastelands, roadsides, and abandoned lands. They thrive in spaces of neglect, where nature reclaims and persists in forms that often go unnoticed. These beings embody dynamic, symbiotic relationships in the borderlands of ecological transition, offering opportunities for co-regulation and mutual care.
Through the framework of the residency, the aim was to cultivate a soft collective body, exploring the unique capacities of third landscapes to foster symbiotic relationships and reimagine shared futures. These borderlands, teeming with life and potential, serve as spaces for reparative world-building. In this project, we created space within refuges for community co-regulation with our more-than-human kin, supporting the wellbeing of our collective nervous system. By shedding the urban "exoskeleton," we reconnected with the deeper, interwoven dynamics of our world, moving toward a state of exchange and reciprocity that includes all beings sharing this planet.
Informed by previous work and experiments in ecological and artistic spaces, this project invited reflections on the importance of these marginal spaces, where absence becomes presence, and where the unheard voices of third landscape beings can be amplified. This exploration offers a unique opportunity to rethink how these neglected ecosystems—often seen as spaces of decay—can inspire creative, ecological, and social regeneration, shaping a more inclusive future for all life on Earth.