Michael Pope, Reefsiren and Mark Roth, The Watcher, Projection installation and time-based audio-visual media. PUNQ 2024 Commission. Photograph courtesy of the artist.
Gurambilbarra / Townsville.
View the interactive PUNQ Art Trail Map for directions.
Venue AccessibilityThe Watcher is found approx. 150 metres along the Under the Radar trail accessed either via the stairs or the path. Please note that the audience will experience low light conditions and a torch is advisable for the journey.
Use app “Artivive” to scan the fort and experience The Watcher through virtual reality.
PricingFree outdoor site-specific installation.
Friday 2 August - Wednesday 14 August 6 - 7pm
The Watcher
Marc Roth, ReefSiren, Michael Pope
The sleeping sentinel awakens and casts his eye over the waters. Searching. Watching. Witnessing the twilight. Be on the headland each evening to hear the wind, watch the light fade and wonder what The Watcher has witnessed.
The Watcher is an exciting new collaboration between multidisciplinary artist Michael Pope and audio-visual artist Marc Roth with sound artist/ producer ReefSiren. The work features site-specific audio-visual projection artworks that inhabit the embrasure of a World War II searchlight emplacement at Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park. The Watcher investigates the history and role of the site as a guardian of Gurambilbarra / Townsville.
Each evening the work will transform the space to create an immersive sensory experience with a projection mapping installation by Pope and Roth that features sound art by ReefSiren. During the day, The Watcher can be accessed by scanning the installation artwork and experiencing the audio visual through augmented reality.
About The ArtistThe Watcher is a collaborative work by Marc Roth, ReefSiren and Michael Pope.
Marc Roth also known as Tetralume is a digital visual artist, who works in mediums of projection and mapping across North Queensland and beyond. Marc has featured his distinct work at a diverse range of events including Palm Creek Folk Festival (now Townsville Folk Festival), Full Throttle Theatre, Townsville City Council's Luxlumin - Light Up the City and Masquerade Ball, Pop Up North Queensland festival (PUNQ), Mushroom Valley Festival, Rootbound as well as installations at the Northern Australian Festival of the Arts (NAFA).
ReefSiren hails from North Queensland and has been producing and playing her fluid mix of Tech-House, Techno and Progressive-Psy since 2018. The ReefSiren experience sets a scene; taking you on a journey that brings waves of melodic rhythms, tribal drums and big, deep bass lines.
Michael Pope is an artist and teacher based in Gurambilbarra / Townsville. He has an interdisciplinary practice that often involves collaboration across a range of mediums including drawing, sculptural installation, and ceramics.
Gurambilbarra / Townsville.
View the interactive PUNQ Art Trail Map for directions.
Venue AccessibilityThe Watcher is found approx. 150 metres along the Under the Radar trail accessed either via the stairs or the path. Please note that the audience will experience low light conditions and a torch is advisable for the journey.
Use app “Artivive” to scan the fort and experience The Watcher through virtual reality.
PricingFree outdoor site-specific installation.
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PUNQ respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region; Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
PUNQ respectfully acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun and the surrounding groups of our region; Bindal, Gugu Badhan, Nywaigi, Warrgamay, Bandjin and Gudjal as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather, share and celebrate local creative practice. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. They have never ceded sovereignty and remain strong in their enduring connection to land and Culture.
PUNQ is produced by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts. The festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and receives funding from Creative Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. Townsville City Council is a funding partner of PUNQ.