Elemental: Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart TAS

Ellen Dahl

4 Dec 2025

Elemental is a collection of video artworks responding to the elements as mediators between people and place. Each film invites viewers to consider how the natural environment shapes perception, memory and belonging. Installed in the Peacock Theatre for its space carved directly into Hobart’s rocky escarpment, the program integrates the geological presence of the venue into the viewing experience, echoing the atmospheres explored on screen. The nine featured artists employ diverse approaches to image, sound and archival material to examine how the environment influences human identity.

For Elemental, Dahl has re-worked her originally single-channel work ‘The Fake Lake’ into a two-channel film. ‘The Fake Lake’ explores the intersection between the still (stagnant) and the moving to reflect on the many ‘fake’ lakes and cut-off rivers systems supporting Tasmania’s hydroelectric energy industry – many of them scattered across the southwest Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. These large imposing grey concrete impoundments sit in stark contrast to perceived ideas of lush green ‘untouched’ wilderness. The colouring of these lakes is a natural occurrence derived from the tannin leaching out of the peat substrate that exists in these flooded sites, yet its dark appearance hints at a melancholic disequilibrium within the environment. Film Screenings + Panel Talk
Thursday 4 December 2025
Panel talk facilitated by TMAG senior art curator Mary Knights

Doors Open 5:30pm | Event from 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Duration 90 minutes (includes interval)

FREE EVENT | please RSVP to reserve your seat.