Aftermaths
Aftermaths
2025
Dimensions variable
Beneath the ocean’s surface, an unintended experiment is unfolding. Heavy metals seep into the marine environment, microplastics swirl in the currents, and industrial waste seeps into the food chain. These pollutants are not passive; they interact with the delicate genetic architecture of marine life, triggering mutations and disruptions that are both unnatural and far-reaching. The sea is no longer merely a habitat; it has become a Petri dish of human irresponsibility.
Artificial intelligence, heralded as a tool to save us from ecological collapse, embodies a profound irony. On one hand, AI has the power to optimise energy production, streamline distribution networks, and revolutionise our ability to manage resources sustainably. On the other, the energy demands of vast server farms and resource-intensive computations contribute to the very environmental crises AI is supposed to mitigate. Far from being a neutral savior, AI introduces yet another layer of complexity into the tangled web of human influence on the planet.
In the realm of synthetic biology, the story becomes even more complex. Genetic engineering, powered by AI, offers the tantalizing possibility of designing life forms capable of addressing environmental problems—bacteria that consume pollutants, plants that sequester carbon. But evolution, blind and unguided, is not so easily directed by human intentions. Missteps in this arena could lead to ecological imbalances with consequences beyond our capacity to predict or control. The promises of these technologies must be tempered with a recognition of their potential to destabilize the ecosystems we depend upon.
The film encapsulates this paradox. It plunges us into a dystopian underwater world, where grotesque marine creatures—mutations shaped by pollution and technological interference—paint a vivid picture of humanity’s impact on the natural world. Inspired by the surreal visions of Hieronymus Bosch, these organisms are distorted reflections of life, simultaneously fascinating and horrifying. The waters themselves are heavy with decay, a visceral reminder of the unintended consequences of progress.
As the film progresses, it reveals vast rows of computer servers emerging from the murky depths, their surfaces encrusted with coral and marine life. These servers—monuments to human ingenuity—have become relics, overtaken by nature, a stark symbol of technological ambition gone unchecked. Accompanied by Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten, the scene evokes a sense of finality, a moment of reflection on the fragility of human progress.
The film’s footage, initially generated by an artificial intelligence offers a stark, unsentimental analysis of our environmental trajectory. It reveals an ecosystem no longer solely shaped by natural selection but by human excess—an accidental experiment in synthetic evolution. The grotesque, mutated organisms are not mere victims of pollution but potential precursors of a new intelligence, sculpted by artificial forces beyond our foresight. What we see as aberrations may, in fact, be adaptations—a nascent, non-human agency arising from the wreckage of our own making.