For studio presentation, and in turn my final assessment, I have chosen to discuss the Hyperobject of invasive species. As a result of the Anthropocene and mankind’s continued search of a world made easier, the biodiversity of the planet has gradually grown smaller. Animals are frequently being introduced to new habitats that aren’t their own. This causes them to thrive in an environment void of their natural predators and diseases, but in turn, causes devastation to the original species of this environment.

Invasive species were always an issue in the environment I was aware of, but never focused on a great deal unless for a different smaller-scaled assignment in high school. I always knew of most invasive species but actually looking at them as a whole, it was alarming to learn the rate at which animals in Australia are going extinct or at a high risk of extinction. With so many invasive species in the country and all over the world. I decided it would be best to focus on one species, particularly a more universally recognized species and a species that poses a great threat to the lives of many species in Australia. The feral cat. The reason for this is for the wide variety of dangers the animal has to the country. According to the Australian Department of Agriculture, ‘More than 20 of our Australian mammals’ (Feral Cats FAQ, 2017, pg 2) are now extinct due to the intervention of feral cats and at least a further ‘124 Australian species are at pressure of extinction’ (Feral Cats FAQ, 2017, pg 2) because of this.

Another reason for this choice is that cats in the general eyes of the public and the internet are considered a bit of a meme. Sure they can be dangerous and hunt animals, but if you look up cats on the internet you are more likely to find funny compilations of cat videos over anything else. This leaves a plethora of content for me to sort through and examine in my goal to portray this more serious and dangerous side to this hyperobject. While people can be aware of the damage done by invasive species, Morton reminds us that Hyperobjects are ‘massively distributed entities that can be thought and computed, but not directly touched or seen.’ (Morton, 2013, pg 37) Hyperobjects like invasive species exist all around us constantly even if we are not aware of them and yet their impact on the globe can be devastating. I wanted to create a media artefact that is more personal to viewers, by showing the comparison between how cats are generally portrayed vs the reality of the damage they cause. This would be done either through a split-screen or collecting positive footage of cats and intercutting it with the contrasting reality of cats footage. The challenge with this is not to demonize cats as a whole and try to remain on the topic of hyperobjects as a whole.

In my development as a media student, I found I have come to heavily rely on music in many aspects to carry my work, so I want to use music as a constraint this time and focus on diegetic sounds in a scene to carry my video. It will be a challenge but I want to challenge my skills as a media maker to further develop my practice.

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References
Morton, T 2013, ‘Poisoned Ground: Art and Philosophy in the Time of Hyperobjects’, Sylmpoke, vol. 21, no.1-2, p. 37-50.
Australian Department of Environment and Energy, 2017. Tackling Feral Cats And Their Impacts. Australian Government.

Update Post Presentation
I wanted to quickly update this according to the feedback I received though this isn’t really part of my prompt 8 reflection.
With the feedback I received from my presentation I believe it would be better to broaden my scope of invasive species to the most notable invasive species in Australia. Focusing on feral cats like I initially intended seemed like the best idea due to the plethora of content I would be able to use on the matter. However, I do agree with the feedback that this poses a risk to be focusing on just this and not the hyperobject of invasive species as a whole. While this may pose more of a challenge in the future, I believe this is the best course of action to take to ensure I stay on topic.