Lines and Pathways 牠們的路, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong (April 18, 2017)
An Interactive kinetic installation that depicts relationships between pathways of turtle migration and pathways of the exotic animal trade 互動動力裝置,展示海龜遷徙與野生動物貿易路線的關係
Using GPS migration data from The Nature Conservancy, combined with research into the animal trade and knowledge shared with us by the local community, we have created a dynamic system that maps the
interconnections that sustain the life of the Hawksbill turtle. Using a kinetic components, we show how the pathways of animal migration and animal trade are connected to broader global forces.
One of the most profound realizations from our time in the Solomon Islands was the complexity of the relationships that determine the lives of any single species in this area. The plight of the critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle initially motivated our journey to the Arnavons. However, in learning more about the story of this particular animal, we found ourselves engaging with a far broader historical changes, both at a local and global level. Pathways are crucial to how turtles navigate across wide stretches of oceans. The Earth’s magnetic fields help them
return to the beach where they were born to nest again. Over the course of recent history, the lines created by the turtle migrations have been overshadowed by those of their empty shells, phantoms of their existence and reminders of the havoc we are wreaking on this planet. In recent decades, the Arnavon Islands conservation projects have traced a new series of entanglements between humans, Hawksbill turtles, and the management of nesting sites, increased monitoring and study of this species has fostered a sustained recovery in their population. They have also revealed new understandings of the migration patterns traced by the turtles. By focusing on the pathways of the Hawksbill, we seek to tell a glocal story of actions and consequences, as well as interconnectivity and
shared responsibility.