In this, the very first episode of The UP Podcast, author and critic Hettie Judah visits a dystopian underwater landscape set 300 years in a possible future, The Terrarium, an immersive virtual-reality art piece by the artist Shezad Dawood, commissioned by UP Projects and on show as part of the Folkestone Triennale until 2 November 2021.
In this episode, we join Hettie on a visit to Shezad’s London studio, to experience The Terrarium for herself and ask the artist about the key themes that inspired the work and how he created it. We also meet a couple of Shezad’s collaborators on The Terrarium - Dr Louise Firth, from Plymouth University, a marine ecologist who specialises in the relationship between humans and coastal ecosystems and the award-winning composer Graham Fitkin, whose ambient soundscapes shift and mutate throughout the project and indeed, this episode of the podcast.
The Terrarium is part of a wider, ongoing series by Dawood, called Leviathan, a major five-year multifaceted project that examines the relationships between what Shezad calls "three of the most urgent issues of our time: climate change, migration and mental health." This podcast will immerse you in its strange, surreal and beautifully-imagined world.
The UP Podcast is presented by Hettie Judah and generously supported by Arts Council England. It was audio produced and directed by Arsalan Mohammad and creatively produced by UP Projects.
