Night Drifts

A Love-letter to the Nocturnal

During the day the night critters curl up in nests and dreys, burrows and hollows. As the bustle of day subsides they emerge, this is their time. In Night Drifts the audience is invited to nestle down into their own human-sized drey. Shifting the human perspective to a larger-than-life nocturnal world, the work considers the needs of those that inhabit the night at a time of increased environmental loss, degradation and stress. The accompanying soundscape draws attention to the insects and animals behind the sounds that lull us to sleep. Using infra-red footage recorded between 2020-2023, the large projections reveal the return of night critters following the devastation of bushfire through Julie’s home-place. Night Drifts is a love-letter to a present and future nocturnal.

Selected movie images

Artist: Julie Vulcan

Sound designer: Ashley Scott

Images: Julie Vulcan

2023  Carriageworks, Nighttime, NSW AUS

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Gundungurra and Tharawal peoples and remember sovereignty was never ceded.