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Section 32 (2016)



The Purple Room, Section 32.  Photograph by Andrew Ferris


 Melbourne - the worlds most livable city, Section 32. Photograph by Andrew Ferris 

Researchers: Dr Clare McCracken

AEGIS UN Sustainable Development Goals 11 & 13

Our city is in a state of flux: climate change, rapid population growth, housing affordability, technological advances such as driverless cars and shifts in the labour market are all gearing up to permanently change both the look of our city and how we inhabit it. Over four weeks artist and researcher Clare McCracken, and a team of collaborators, transformed an ordinary suburban house inside and out creating an immersive installation that transported audiences to the end of this century to experience the future of the Australian suburbs.

The work contemplated how domestic routines, interpersonal relationships and the fabric of the house itself will adapt to a post carbon world affected by climate change, extreme weather events, population increase and new technologies such as driverless cars and virtual reality. The work is informed by the work of sociologists, contemporary philosophers and cultural theorists such as John Urry, Anthony Elliott, Tim Cresswell, Manual Castels, Rosi Braidotti and Paul Virilio, but also by Melbourne’s history of planning, development and environmental policy.

Lead artist, creative producer and writer: Clare McCracken
Key collaborator, performance director and performance writer: Brienna Macnish
Key collaborator, sound designer, composer and technology designer Robert Jordan
Associate artist, creator of the Black Room: Jessie Stanley Performer & devisor: Kasey Gambling, Isabella Vadiveloo, Ernesto Munoz
Performer, message from Mars: Paul Blenheim  Production assistant: Andrew Ferris.

This work was awarded the 2019 RMIT University Research Award in the Higher Degree by research – Impact category due to its contribution to Knox City Council’s Environmental, Planning and Public Art processes.

Section 32 was commissioned by Knox City Council and has been assisted by an anonymous donor.

Acknowledgement of Country


AEGIS acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we work. We respectfully acknowledge their Elders, past and present. We also acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters across Australia and its Dreaming.