'Paper'

June 10th

Short papers / Extensions of Reality: Plants and the Technological Virtual

Authors: Rewa Wright, Simon Howden

Work:

This paper explores a selection of mixed, virtual and extended reality artworks (MR/VR/XR), through the theoretical lens of posthumanism applied to media art, as well as practice-led conjunctions of media and devices.

Typology:

Paper

Theme: Mozilla Hubs, Plant Blindness, Mixed Reality, Posthumanism, Climate Catastrophe, Anthropocene.

More information: https://rewawright.com

Abstract: This paper explores a selection of mixed, virtual and extended reality artworks (MR/VR/XR), through the theoretical lens of posthumanism applied to media art, as well as practice-led conjunctions of media and devices. Exploring recent works by the authors’ and others, we speculate on plant blindness and homo sapiens immersion in the ‘technological virtual’, arguing this is not necessarily a retreat from the organic. The context of this paper is the ongoing pandemic, where artists have been forced to re-form their practices online, in the sphere of the technological virtual. For artist’s working with plants as co-composers, this challenge involves avoiding the evolutionary trap of ‘plant blindness’, while utilising algorithmic processes that are programmed to be blind to the organic.

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