The areas of Tasmania’s South-West provides the researcher of human intervention on the environment with powerful visual contrasts. You can be situated in majestic wilderness or contemplating the enormity of the hydro-electric pipelines or pondering the surreal landscapes carved out by the mining of one of the most highly mineralised regions in the world.

The footage from a four-day research field trip – to connect with local artists of the region – would perhaps normally serve the purposes of personal documentation of the environs: acting as a prompt for memory in the construction of an academic paper.

In the instance of Despoliation, this footage was given visual form and forwarded to two poets with an invitation to respond textually/orally.

Climate Change and the Arts is a research project led by Prof Ann McCulloch of Deakin University. Read ‘Can art change minds where science can’t?’ on The Conversation website.