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Fossil Fables Exhibition

The Global Extraction Observatory
Dr Sam Spurr and Dr Eduardo Kauriz
In collaboration with Bud Rizk and D’Arcy Newberry-Dupé

Curated with Kate Goodwin
May 18th - July 8th, 2023

Tin Sheds Gallery
The Univeristy of Sydney, Darlington, NSW

Published in Architecture AU
Awarded The 2024 Gold Good Design Award for Architectural
Installation Design

















This exhibition is conducted by the Global Extraction Observatory, a research collective led by Dr Sam Spurr and Dr Eduardo Kauriz. 

This exhibition was the focus of D’Arcy Newberry-Dupé’s engagement with the collective in 2022 and 2023 as a research assistant and collaborator. 

Fossil Fables:  Global Extraction Observatory statement

Fossil Fables is a collection of stories that explore Australia's complex relationship with extraction and coal mining. These stories are told through a series of installations that use the tools of architecture to analyze and communicate the influence of energy production and resource extraction in our society.

The exhibition brings the vast energy landscapes of the Hunter Valley into the interior of the urban gallery, making visible the unearthly places that the Anthropocene has terraformed at scales unimaginable to the general populace. Each work in the exhibition situates an aspect of this complex problem in a spatial and affective way, telling stories of scale, violence, and materiality.

The projects in Fossil Fables describe the enmeshing of historic, mythic, political, economic, and material issues that play out in the shaping of Australia's particular national ethos and identity. They are a powerful reminder of the impact that extraction industries have on our environment and our communities.

The Global Extraction Observatory is a research collective founded by Dr. Eduardo Kairuz and Dr. Sam Spurr, committed to examining the aesthetics of energy production and resource extraction through creative practice, scholarship, and engagement. Fossil Fables is the latest in a series of exhibitions and projects that explore these themes and their impact on our world.

This exhibition and it’s works are produced by GEO - Eduardo Kairuz and Sam Spurr in collaboration with D'Arcy Newberry-Dupe, Bud Rizk.

Curated with Kate Goodwin.