When machines dream of nature
N16 – Echoes of the Earth: Living Archive by Refik Anadol
Last week our team ventured to the Serpentine Galleries in West London to experience first-hand Refik Anadol’s Echoes of the Earth: Living Archive. The show immerses audiences in AI-generated images inspired by flora, fungi, and fauna data from 16 rainforest sites around the world – with more than half a billion data points dedicated to Amazonia alone.
Collecting data through technologies ranging from LiDAR (lasers that scan the surface of the Earth) to photogrammetry (3D information extracted from photographs), the show’s ultimate aim is giving visitors a sense of collective responsibility to protect and nurture our environment.
Speaking to Rows & Columns, Anadol said: “It's essential to deeply understand the systems we’re interacting with in order to ask meaningful questions about our environments. Without this understanding, our engagement may remain superficial, lacking the depth necessary to truly make a difference.
“By integrating technology with design, my goal is to first comprehend the vast data collected from nature, and then use this knowledge to create simulations that offer deeper insights into natural ecosystems. This approach allows me to not just witness, but to actively engage and learn from the complex web of life surrounding us.”
We were particularly struck by the fact that, through the process of collating the datasets, the initiative united foundations, museums, universities, government entities, indigenous groups, and activists across the ecological front.
The exhibition offers a peek into Anadol’s expanding work, the Large Nature Model for Dataland, and is open to visitors until 7 April 2024.
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