Botanica Extrema
Chimeric Plants for Future Sustainability
by Professor Lizbeth Goodman, Dr. Jacki Morie, Dr. Gayil Nalls, Saskia Wilson-Brown
ABOUT
Botanica Extrema imagines and exhibits a future-proof plant in various formats that will engage all the senses: visual, sound, smell, taste and touch.
A multi-sensory sculptural object will be joined by publications, workshops and open source digital resources to examine how plants might evolve to survive a difficult future ecosystem.
Rooted in optimism, the project hopes to encourage the public to imagine plant survival.
The design of the plant will be based on scientific data and emerging technologies to the most minute detail. The collaborative exploration will draw from four practices: Dr. Gayil Nalls’ multi-year study of biodiversity, plant extinction, survival and evolution, Dr. Jacki Morie’s explorations of innovative multi-sensory technologies, Saskia Wilson-Brown’s work with scent and taste component design through the Institute for Art and Olfaction, and conceptual and cross-modal connections drawn from the ethos developed by Professor Lizbeth Goodman and SmartLab.
Plants are inventive. They evolve, sometimes on their own and increasingly with human intervention in the form of genetic engineering, gene splicing, and more. With this project, we aim to explore how human impact on the natural world might continue to manifest, and how plants might evolve as a result.
Image: Exploratory illustration of a future plant
Method: Dall-E
THEMES
This project explores the themes of natural/not natural through the topics of synthetic biology, new life forms, future ecosystems, biodiversity, evolution, engineering, and AI design.
The project further deeply explores de-extinction research, minutely documenting the theoretical process of creating new species.
It poses a question for attendees to ponder: What if the plants themselves became authors of their future, in part due to an increasing sentience forced upon them by our actions exacerbating climate change.
Finally the project is deeply rooted in the concepts of hybridity and chimeras, drawing from contemporary and historical myths, not least in the form of science fiction.
We hope to help people better understand the impact of climate change and loss of habitat on the natural world. The process of imagining a future plant connects with these topics at a visceral level, thus prompting people to think of all aspects of the future ecosystem.
Image: Exploratory illustrations of future plants
Method: Midjourney
TEAM
Professor Lizbeth Goodman
Dublin (Ireland)
Professor Goodman is the Chair of Creative Technology Innovation and founder director of the SMARTlab Digital Media Institute and the MAGIC Multimedia & Games Innovation Centre, in Dublin (Ireland).
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Dr. Gayil Nalls
Hudson River Valley and New York City (USA)
Dr. Nalls is an interdisciplinary artist and theorist living in New York (USA). She is the founder and director of the World Sensorium Conservancy, an organization dedicated to the preservation of aromatic and medicinal plants, and its journal ‘Plantings’.
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Dr. Jacki Morie
Los Angeles (USA)
Dr. Morie is a futurist based in Los Angeles (USA), who combines deep understanding of diverse scientific and humanistic areas with an ability to predict the evolution of change in our society and world. She is also a virtual reality pioneer, an artist, scientist and educator working in the areas of immersive worlds, avatars, future technologies, human emotional response and meaningful immersive experiences.
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Saskia Wilson-Brown
Los Angeles (USA)
Saskia Wilson-Brown is the founder and director of The Institute for Art and Olfaction (IAO), a non-profit devoted to access and experimentation in perfumery. She founded the Art and Olfaction Awards in 2013 and co-founded ‘Alabastron’ journal in 2022.
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