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I S O S T A S Y

August 2021 | A short film co-directed by Simon Clode & Marc Rees - funded by Arts Council Wales, commissioned by UK Antarctic Hertisage Trust, broadcast on BBC Wales

As darkness falls on the deep eve of Antarctic Mid-winter, there’s a break-in at the museum store. 

Artefacts are not ransacked but rearranged. 

This is a guerilla action – a poetic provocation.

It marks the 200th anniversary of the white continent‘s discovery – and its perilous state.

A tipping point, the result of our human actions – our human estate.

By protecting Antarctica we can restore the natural balance of the whole planet          

Sir David Attenborough

I S O S T A S Y – The balance between changes within the Earth’s crust and mantle, where material is displaced in response to an increase (isostatic depression) or decrease (isostatic rebound) in mass at any point on the Earth’s surface above. Such changes are frequently caused by advances or retreats of glaciers.

ISOSTASY is the response to an invisible crisis, as invisible as the whale.  Just as we never see the biggest animal on our planet, so we ignore our largest uninhabited continent.  We need to bear witness.  Only sound can stir us from our complacency: the deepest, loudest sound generated by an organism.  And like the whale’s song, the reverberations of ISOSTASY are as much felt as heard.                      

Philip Hoare 

Credits

Directed by Simon Clode and Marc Rees

Concept | Art Design  Marc Rees

Director of Photography | Colour Grade  Matt Smith

Editor | Producer  Simon Clode

Writer | Phlip Hoare 

Whale Song | Chris Watson 

Voice | Cerys Matthews

Composer | Victoria Ashfield 

Protagonist | Anthony Evans 

Dubbing mixer |  Nicholas Davies / Meteor Sounds

Sound Effects Editor | Owen Peters AMPS

Translator | Rhys Iorwerth

Graphic Design | Oliver Norcott

Creative Producer | Isabel Griffin 

I S O S T A S Y is co-created by Marc Rees and Simon Clode, funded by Arts Council Wales with support from UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. It has been developed from an original co-commission as part of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust’s cultural programme, Antarctica in Sight

Special thanks to , Swansea Museum, Swansea Council ,  Swansea Art College | UWTSD, Sud Basu,Talina Jones and Karl Morgan

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Interview with directors  UK Antarctic Heritage Trust 

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