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Project Overview

The oil industry is one of the primary contributors to carbon emissions, directly accelerating global warming and causing sea levels to rise. Meanwhile, the offshore oil rig industry has been in steep decline since 2014. From over 5,500 platforms in operation in 1981, the number had dropped to fewer than 2,000 by 2023.

Cromarty Firth, known as Scotland’s 'oil rig graveyard', hosts numerous decommissioned rigs, their future use uncertain.  Many of these platforms are sent to ship-breaking yards thousands of miles away, where the environmental impact of these actions can be conveniently forgotten about, while others sit idle, awaiting reactivation. 

Hantao Li's Giants' Anatomy envisions a speculative journey for decommissioned North Sea oil platforms through this liminal landscape, combining real world footage with Computer-generated Imagery to explore their potential afterlife. The film asks, 'When the infrastructure loses its function, does it still hold meaning?'

At times as absurd as it is strikingly plausible, the film plays with notions of truth and reality while asking us to consider all possible futures.

Project details

Launching on FVU Watch 28 January 2026.

Opening 28 February — 31 March 2026 at Arnolfini, Bristol.

Giants' Anatomy

Arnolfini,16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA

28 February 2026 - 31 March 2026

More information

Giants' Anatomy (2026) has been commissioned as part of FVU New Takes, an FVU initiative supported by Jerwood Foundation. FVU is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

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