Projects by Sally Kidall
These projects are site-responsive virtual art installations created for various commissions around the world: Sculpture by the Sea 2022, Bondi, Australia, NZSculptureOnshore 2023, New Zealand, Eden Unearthed 2021, Eden Gardens, Australia, Secret Rooms 2024, Finland & Ephemera Trace-less 2025, Townsville, Australia. They were conceived by Sally Kidall, a site-responsive conceptual artist. The works create surreal narratives reflecting the growing symptoms of fear, dispossession and humanity’s desire to escape the impacts of our changing world. These interactive works aim to engage viewers’ imaginations, encouraging them to recreate these subterranean projects within their mind's eye using clues provided on-site. These thought-provoking stage sets offer platforms for reflection, evoking unease and prompting questions. The large graphic signs display property details, layouts and images of these imaginary subterranean structures.
This body of work was initially inspired by a radio interview with the international urban explorer Dr Bradley Garrett. He was discussing the growth of international communities of 'Preppers' who are preparing for an imminent apocalypse. His book: Bunker, Building for the End Times, (2020) was published at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Bradley accepted a commission from Sally to write an essay for her initial project created for Sculpture by the Sea in 2020, (postponed till 2022) and he generously shared his knowledge and ideas. Bradley is responsible for inventing the fictitious Dirk Talbot as the CEO of Bunker Down Subterranean Property Consultants, the press release and many of the technical solutions for the building's design, he has been an invaluable consultant for these projects.
These projects are site-responsive virtual art installations created for various commissions around the world: Sculpture by the Sea 2022, Bondi, Australia, NZSculptureOnshore 2023, New Zealand, Eden Unearthed 2021, Eden Gardens, Australia, Secret Rooms 2024, Finland & Ephemera Trace-less 2025, Townsville, Australia. They were conceived by Sally Kidall, a site-responsive conceptual artist. The works create surreal narratives reflecting the growing symptoms of fear, dispossession and humanity’s desire to escape the impacts of our changing world. These interactive works aim to engage viewers’ imaginations, encouraging them to recreate these subterranean projects within their mind's eye using clues provided on-site. These thought-provoking stage sets offer platforms for reflection, evoking unease and prompting questions. The large graphic signs display property details, layouts and images of these imaginary subterranean structures.
This body of work was initially inspired by a radio interview with the international urban explorer Dr Bradley Garrett. He was discussing the growth of international communities of 'Preppers' who are preparing for an imminent apocalypse. His book: Bunker, Building for the End Times, (2020) was published at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Bradley accepted a commission from Sally to write an essay for her initial project created for Sculpture by the Sea in 2020, (postponed till 2022) and he generously shared his knowledge and ideas. Bradley is responsible for inventing the fictitious Dirk Talbot as the CEO of Bunker Down Subterranean Property Consultants, the press release and many of the technical solutions for the building's design, he has been an invaluable consultant for these projects.
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Sally Kidall: Project Artist
Project Artist
Sally Kidall is an internationally recognised artist whose practice spans several years and encompasses a wide breadth of creative experience. She is known for her expansive, site-responsive, and immersive interventions, which she creates in challenging locations and buildings of interest. Breaking free from the constraints of traditional gallery spaces, her works are often temporary and situated within natural and urban environments. These installations frequently incorporate virtual and narrative elements, utilising video and sound to deepen the immersive experience. Kidall often collaborates with performers and practitioners from other disciplines, transforming her interventions into dynamic, performative platforms for experimentation.
With a background in sculpture and architectural design, Kidall earned her MA from Portsmouth University in the UK. Her extensive exhibition history includes numerous notable locations across the globe. She has showcased her work throughout the UK and Australia, as well as in India, Spain, the USA, Ukraine, South Korea, France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Andorra, Germany, Italy, Senegal, Finland, Canada, and Croatia. Through her innovative approach and commitment to a site-responsive approach, Kidall continues to inspire and challenge audiences worldwide, provoking thoughtful engagement with contemporary societal and environmental issues. Recent shows include: Global Nomadic Art Project (GNAP) 2025, Darmstadt, GERMANY; Ephemera 2025, Townsville, QL; Arte Laguna Prize_Finalist 2024, Venice, ITALY; Secret Rooms, 2024; Nykarlaby, FINLAND; Fruga Art Trail 2024, Island of Rab, CROATIA; Old Harbour Trail 2023, Jacobstadt, FINLAND; CAFKA_Contemporary Art Forum 2023, Kitchener, CANADA; DakarOFF 2022, SENEGAL, RespirArt 2022, Pampeago, ITALY; International Forest Art 2022, Darmstadt, GERMANY, Site-Responsive Biennale 2019_ I-Park, Connecticut, USA; L’ANDART’19 Andorra International Biennial, ANDORRA; GroundSpeak_LandArt 2019 & 2021 _Schokland Island Museum, NETHERLANDS; regularly showing at Sculpture by the Sea_Bondi, AUSTRALIA & Palmer Biennale, SA. Sally Kidall's Portfolio website, please visit sallykidall.com |
My Practice Statement
I create site-responsive conceptual interventions incorporating both physical and virtual elements. I seek to challenge the predictability of expectations and cultural homogeneity by creating narrative-inspired metaphorical spaces and environments that engage with contemporary society's anxieties and insecurities. My work seeks to reshape our cultural narratives and provoke fresh perspectives on humanity's urgent challenges amidst our planet's unpredictable trajectory.
Through my practice, I aim to create experiential encounters with place through deep listening, embracing themes of ‘earth-cry’, to foster an empathic understanding of our entangled and inseparable connections within our natural environments.
My projects often take the form of temporary or fictional constructions located in natural or built environments or imagined subterranean spaces described through illusionary settings and sensory stimuli integrating video, lighting, sound, and web links, offering performative platforms for both collaborators and audiences to engage actively.
"Now more than ever we need to understand the underland…it is vital to the material structures of contemporary existence, as well as to our memories, myths and metaphors.’"Underland A Deep Time Journey, Robert Macfarlane (2019)
I create site-responsive conceptual interventions incorporating both physical and virtual elements. I seek to challenge the predictability of expectations and cultural homogeneity by creating narrative-inspired metaphorical spaces and environments that engage with contemporary society's anxieties and insecurities. My work seeks to reshape our cultural narratives and provoke fresh perspectives on humanity's urgent challenges amidst our planet's unpredictable trajectory.
Through my practice, I aim to create experiential encounters with place through deep listening, embracing themes of ‘earth-cry’, to foster an empathic understanding of our entangled and inseparable connections within our natural environments.
My projects often take the form of temporary or fictional constructions located in natural or built environments or imagined subterranean spaces described through illusionary settings and sensory stimuli integrating video, lighting, sound, and web links, offering performative platforms for both collaborators and audiences to engage actively.
"Now more than ever we need to understand the underland…it is vital to the material structures of contemporary existence, as well as to our memories, myths and metaphors.’"Underland A Deep Time Journey, Robert Macfarlane (2019)
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Dr Bradley GarrettProject Consultant
Dr Bradley Garrett is a social geographer, explorer and photographer. His work has been widely published in academic journals and book chapters. He also writes for numerous publications including: The Atlantic, Vox, GQ, the Daily Beast, and The Guardian and his urban landscape photography is highly renowned. Dr Garrett's book Subterranean London: Cracking the Capital (2015) reveals extraordinary images of subterranean London layer by layer. In 2016 Garrett published London Rising: Illicit Photos from the City’s Heights, which documents the social, infrastructural and corporate verticalities of the city. His fifth book, published during the COVID pandemic in 2020, Bunker: Building for the End Times documents ‘prepper’ communities across four continents and their preparations for the impeding apocalypse.
bradleygarrett.com |
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@ Bunker Down 2025
@ Sally Kidall 2025 |
