P005 → Contaminated Nature
Concept
This triptych of immersive environments proposes nature as a site of mutation rather than balance - landscapes where contamination becomes a generative force. The work rejects the romantic notion of pristine wilderness, instead embracing ecosystems as they actually behave: chaotic, invasive, adaptable, indifferent to human aesthetic categories.
The barren monochrome wastelands exist in temporal dialogue with the hyperchromatic fungal blooms, suggesting not degradation and renewal but simultaneous states of being. Drawing on Anna Tsing's examination of precarious ecologies in "The Mushroom at the End of the World," these environments present contamination not as catastrophe but as evolutionary opportunity. The bioluminescent fungi, spreading across cave floors in electric oranges and blues, function as both decay and new life - nature's indifference visualized.
Where environmental art traditionally advocates for preservation, this work proposes observation without judgment: what if the "ruined" landscape is simply becoming something else? The real-time interactivity forces viewers to navigate these spaces bodily, to make choices about where to look and how long to stay, implicating them in the ecosystem's logic. Contagion here is methodology, metaphor, and material fact.
Notes
The project emerged from questioning why certain ecological states register as "healthy" while others trigger revulsion - and whether these reactions reveal more about human psychology than environmental reality. By creating environments of extreme sensory intensity, the work tests the limits of our capacity to find beauty in biological processes we've been conditioned to fear. The three distinct environments operate as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis: death, excessive life, and the recognition that both are facets of the same continuum. The immersive format was essential - these aren't landscapes to be observed from safe distance but spaces demanding visceral engagement. The intention is to create a kind of aesthetic exposure therapy: can we learn to see the mushroom-covered cave floor as we see a field of wildflowers?
Context
Developed as a real-time interactive installation utilizing game engine technology to create navigable environments. The three-part series was created independently in Berlin as part of ongoing research into digital ecology and immersive worldbuilding. The work explores how interactive media can simulate ecological processes and challenge anthropocentric perspectives on environmental change.