DEADEYE by Ian Gibbins | Australia | 2025  

Duration: 00:07:10

“they used to place coins on the eyelids of the dead so they could not follow the lives of the living… surrounded by ocean we find no clear water… in the absence of fire our soft tissues are burning… yet our eyes stay open…”

PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEOGRAPHY / ANIMATION / TEXT / AUDIO FIELD RECORDINGS / SOUND DESIGN  : Ian Gibbins

CONTACTS / LINKS : https://www.iangibbins.com.au/  @iangibbins52 IanGibbins.poetry.music.science (facebook)  vimeo 

During 2025, large areas of South Australian coastal waters were devastated by a harmful algal bloom, leading to mass mortalities of uncountable numbers of fish, invertebrates and other marine life. The causes are complex but all arise from the unmitigated effects of anthropogenic climate change.

This video has been made from images of fish that have been killed by the bloom and washed up on beaches along the eastern side of Gulf St Vincent. The audio was created from samples taken from videos of living fish, crabs and squid recorded at Seacliff beach, South Australia, in January – February 2025, before the bloom hit. The text is what the fish might say to us, if only they could… 

Director’s statement
As a retired scientist with considerable relevant expertise, I became deeply involved with citizen science projects and public forums documenting and researching the effects of the agal bloom. As a long-time ocean goer, poet and video artist, this video is one of my creative responses to the event.

For more about the bloom and how its toxins affect fish and other organisms, see South Australian harmful algal bloom: 2025-2026 

For an extended account of the making of this video, see my essay on Sarah Tremlett’s Liberated Words website: DEADEYE: a poetry video response to an environmental catastrophe – Ian Gibbins, January 2026 

Bio
Ian Gibbins is a poet, video artist and electronic musician living in South Australia. His poetry has been widely published in Australia and overseas, and includes four books. His award-winning poetry videos, video art and soundscapes have been exhibited to acclaim at festivals, installations, galleries and public art displays around the world. Until he retired in 2014, Ian was an internationally recognised neuroscientist and Professor of Anatomy at Flinders University, South Australia.

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