Rising

Primarily a sound work (with vision being secondary, impaired or even incidental) Rising is structured around the recollections of a woman who appears to be moving through different levels of hypnosis, unconsciousness or heightened consciousness. The speaker describes an extraordinary, waterlogged, dreamlike future based around an annual event, the Great North Run in Newcastle where the runners have adapted physically and psychologically to their increasingly aquatic environment of flash flooding and rising water levels brought about through climate change. The ‘run’ becomes, for Chodzko, a ritualistic preparation for a city’s evacuation prior to its final submergence under flood waters. It becomes an annual exercise in escape showing a culture’s ongoing ability to evolve, incorporating the challenge of flooding into the event. A process which can be interpreted as denial or a true acknowledgement of the reality of this environmental change. The work itself then becomes a form of hypnosis itself or a ‘reprogramming’ with the intention of addressing the reality and consequences of climate change; an appeal to the semi-conscience of the audience.Co commissioned by Great North Run Culture and Invisible Dust.