»Water Lily Invasion« 
Light Box
Light Box
© Tamiko Thiel, 2013. @ Star Ferry Terminal, Hong Kong. Screenshot taken by DAW International, at SIGGRAPH ASIA 2013; Hong Kong, near Star Ferry Terminal, 2013. Screenshot by DAW International, SIGGRAPH ASIA 2013
Keywords
Information
Tamiko Thiel >
»Water Lily Invasion«, 2013
Co-Workers & Funding:
Tamiko Thielhttp://tamikothiel.com/AR/waterlily.html
Technology
Descriptions & Essays
As global water levels and temperatures rise, plants and animals are mutating to adapt. Strange new creatures are arising at the interstices between plant and animal, questioning and transgressing the boundaries of what is considered to be reactive flora or active fauna.
In 2013, one such form was observed to follow the route of the Star Ferries between Hong Kong and Kowloon. Apparently sensitive to the mediated human gaze, a seemingly small, innocuous water lily can enlarge to engulf viewers who look at it in the display of their mobile app. It is hypothesized that it feeds off energy, not only that dissipated by the ferry boats, but also that of the human cargo and their electronic devices. Until now viewers have reported feeling no effects other than a temporary fibrillation. Scientists worry however that future mutations could cross boundaries between insentient plant and sentient, perhaps even carnivorous life forms.
Literature
Exhibitions & Events