The Flood and Cyclone mosaic will be updated during the Floodlines regional tour mid next year, so upload your photos to add to this significant natural event that occured in 2010/11 and is now part of Queensland’s ongoing Memory.

Flood and Cyclone mosaic at Clermont Library

Flood photos from Isaac Region - Clermont

Floodlines Digital stories at Mackay City Library

Augmented Reality of North Queensland

 The exhibition coincided with a photographic exhibition at the library, 150 Years of Resilience: Mackay’s Natural Disasters.

Launch of the Mackay Natural Disasters Exhibition

To add value to Floodlines as it travels to Far North Queensland, Cardwell, Tully and Ingham, augmented reality maps of these areas were added to the Floodlines App in consultation with locals. The updated app now incorporates 3D virtual maps of these towns before and after Cyclone Yasi. Floodlines is at Mackay City Library until Saturday (29 September) before moving on to Gordon White Library from 3 October to 2 November.

With Queensland Week tomorrow, what better way to celebrate our state’s separation from NSW than focusing on some of the history which makes Queenslanders unique? The three major flood events which devastated Queensland from 1893 right up until 2011, have helped to shape our state and has given Queenslanders a reputation as courageous, resilient, tough individuals, who are able to learn from the past in order to move forward.

Helen Gregory, renowned Queensland historian and curator of SLQ’s exhibition Floodlines, believes the floods helped Queenslanders learn how to stand strong in the face of disaster. She said, “Brisbane’s floods in the nineteenth century were certainly devastating events which affected thousands of people very badly, damaged infrastructure, and ruined businesses. Recovery, however, was characterised by the extraordinary resilience Queenslanders again demonstrated in the aftermath of floods and cyclones in 2011.”

Mrs Gregory maintains that Queenslanders should remember and respect the tragedy, but also honour the resilience, courage and generosity, all amply demonstrated during and after Brisbane’s nineteenth century floods.

The Floodlines exhibition – which shares contemporary and historical memories of the Queenslandfloods, and celebrates the spirit of recovery – will be hosting guided tours on the 2^nd and 5^th of June at   SLQ in honour ofQueensland week. Tours conclude with a curator’s talk by Helen Gregory.

For more information see slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on

James Davidson of Emergency Architects Australia (EAA) was part of a large volunteer movement which conducted a flood assessment program following the most recent QLD floods, aimed to give practical advice and guidance to assist in post-flood reconstruction. Davidson believes that because of where we live, all Queenslanders should consider the importance of flood-proof architecture, although he doesn’t feel that this means changing our homes entirely “It seems incongruous to request that people who have already experienced economic hardship to spend more money raising their houses to an arbitrary height that won’t guarantee they withstand the next flood event,” Davidson said.

“Having coordinated EAA’s flood relief project in addition to the many flood renovation projects I have completed in private practice since, the best option for homeowners is to design for resilience in choosing appropriate construction systems and material selections that will withstand flooding. Flooding doesn’t have to be a disaster,” Davidson stated.

Davidson will be presenting more of his ideas at the Asia Pacific Design Library Lecture Series, hosted by Floodlines at the State Library of Queensland on the 29th of May. The free event will hear from a variety of speakers regarding the concept of creating a flood proof home. Bookings are required – slq.eventbrite.com or 3840 7768

Listening to soundscape

Lawrence collected sounds (both natural and man-made) from all over Queensland for over a month during the 2010/2011 floods. He also spent time recording the Brisbane river from different locations, in order to get a sense of how it flowed and moved. “The motion of water was something I became very interested in as it takes on a quite musical sound,” Lawrence said.

The sounds used in the exhibition were chosen because the artist felt that they accurately portrayed the enormity of the effect of the floods, not just in Brisbane, but of Queensland as a whole. “I feel it’s important to realise that we fit into something bigger than the idea of metropolitan life,” Lawrence said. “The division of metro or regional for example is meaningless when it comes to Mother Nature, and I think there is a beauty in that”.

The Floodlines soundscape can be experienced at the SLQ gallery, and Lawrence English – along with other contemporary artists – will share the fascinating concept behind his work at a free artist talk on Wednesday the 9^th of May on level 2.

Bookings required slq.eventbrite.com or 07 3840 7768.

Floodlines Art 1

What I’ve found most amazing, most heart-breaking, heart-warming, and always intriguing is exploring the images submitted by the public. These are their views and more importantly their visions of how the water born disasters impacted their lives and communities. There are images of debris piles punctuate by a dirty toy bear or couches playfully placed in deep water, a place to sit on a flooded street. Some of the photographs show people at their best, helping neighbours and rescuing the stranded, while others highlight the power of Queensland’s weather and implications to our built and natural environments.

Floodlines Art 2

Floodlines Art 3

This is an artwork conceptualized by myself, Lubi Thomas and the State Library team, but with a soul built by the cameras of Queenslanders.

Floodlines Art 4

Floodlines Art 5

The hard part, as an artist, was to find a way to incorporate these images into a dynamic and interactive artwork, and yet not distracting from the images themselves.  The mosaic artwork does this by continuously generating mosaics, allowing the user to explore, find new images and continue navigating, forever exploring the connections between these Queensland visions. And the result is an artwork that tells a story, or rather a near infinite series of stories, tales of recovery, loss and dare I say, hope, which with every click form and reform, like the weather itself.

- Written by Jason Nelson, Artist

Augmented Reflections ipod

It felt nothing short of surreal as I helped assemble the lighting fixtures in the SLQ gallery. I reflected over the many months our team has worked tirelessly on gathering, sorting, and organising this exhibition. I have learnt a great deal about designing a high tech exhibition in a not-so-high-tech gallery space. I love slq Gallery but, like all exhibition spaces, there are always minor challenges that impact on each exhibition, and influencing curatorial and design decisions. The real challenge is not to let technical and power requirements control and determine exhibition design.

With a total of 6 projections, 9 touch screens and 10 free-roaming iPads there are a number of technical and power issues that could affect how the gallery was presented. As the exhibition had so many technical requirements it seemed almost impossible for the space to be presented without cords lying around and heath and safety officers shaking their heads at us. With extensive research and equipment-testing we came up with a solution that not only works with all of our technical equipment but leaves our gallery as a trip-hazard free zone!

Augmented Reflections 3D

Our next major focus was how to present an Augmented Reality (AR) app developed by Josephmark called Floodlines: Augmented Reflections. Augmented Reflection is for iPhone and iPad devices, and uses flood map data to provide you with new 3D perspectives of the Brisbane River and surrounding suburbs and the rising waters during the devastating Brisbane floods of 2010/11.

Using cutting edge augmented reality technology the app allows you to see the flood waters rise from 2D to new 3D aerial perspectives, and simulates the flooding across the Brisbane CBD and 13 surrounding areas. The app extends exhibition visitors’ understanding of the power of technology to visualise and share information.

People are seeing augmented reality applications implemented by major institutions such as the TATE in London, the Venice Biennale, and New York’s MOMA, so we were thrilled to bring this app to Queensland audiences – not only as platform for interaction, sharing and learning, but as a digital artwork in its own right.

We want this exhibition to reach as many Queenslanders as possible. If you can’t come to the physical space you can access the Floodlines: Augmented Reflections markers through our website. To download the app, print the marker and start to experience the floods in a digital 3d version.

- Written by Brittney Ouston, staff member