Heavy Metals Lab

This project, conceived by the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, was envisaged as both an arts and sustainability project focused on the city’s majestic, but much contaminated, Derwent River. Artists, scientists, performers and others were to come together in this mobile ‘ideas lab’ as it cruised the river, conveying its message.

The lab features a mute, black exterior, which belies neither its function nor its means of propulsion. It simply appears, off the coast, and serves its purpose before disappearing again. This enigmatic quality is complemented by the wonder of its crocoite red/orange interior, apparent mostly at night through festive lighting, thus making even those who do not visit the lab aware of its presence and message.