The World Came Flooding In
An XR installation by Isobel Knowles & Van Sowerwine
World Premiere August 2025
Embark on a journey where people’s experiences of floods highlight how we all embody objects with meaning, feelings and memories.
A house is never the same after a river runs through it.
In The World Came Flooding In, lost objects and spaces are recreated by the artists in collaboration with flood affected people. Virtual reality, projections, miniatures, photographs and sound are thoughtfully orchestrated, exploring the rich inner world that remains when everything has been washed away.
We hear from three people - Marina, Antoinette and Tom, in their own words as they share their stories of living through a flood, separated by thousands of kilometres but connected by shared experience. Using cardboard and other simple materials, the artists artfully recreate the lost homes of each storyteller in miniature, then, via photogrammetry the rooms are translated into virtual reality.
The result is an evocative and wondrous tour through memory spaces. This is a lyrical and unique experiential work that explores personal memory, grief and loss, and the shared experience of an extreme climate event.
Credits
Written, Directed, Co-produced and Animated by Isobel Knowles & Van Sowerwine
Featuring: Tom Doig, Antoinette O’Brien and Marina Perkovich
with flood-affected residents from Ballina, Gympie, Lismore & Maribyrnong
Produced by Philippa Campey
Executive Producer: Ben Joseph Andrews
Sound Designers: Fuligin Sound - Byron J Scullin & Mark Mitchell
Composer: Biddy Connor
Lead Developer: Steve Hadley
Assistant Developer: Julie Zenou
Volumetric Capture: 4DR Studios
Volumetric Performers: Luke Conroy, Paulien Dresscher, Anne Fehres
Videographer and Digital Strategist: Kimberly Summer
Additional Videographers: Glen Maw & Anna Jeffries
Videographers: Glen Maw, Anna Jeffries
Trauma Informed Practice Consultant: Kate Thomas
Impact Consultant: Jackie Turnure
‘Scorpion Song’ written and performed by Kathryn Buck
Thanks to BIGBANG Studio
Workshop partners: GenWest, Gympie Regional Gallery, Lismore Regional Gallery, Northern Rivers Community Gallery.
The World Came Flooding In prototype was presented at International Film Festival Rotterdam CineMart 2023
Developed with the assistance of Frame Documentary.
Produced with the assistance of VicScreen.
Principal production funding from Screen Australia.
A Film Camp production.
Contact info@isobelandvan.com for more information
or visit us on Instagram @theworldcamefloodingin