MOVE 37

MOVE 37

Seed 130, London

futurecity.co.uk

April 2–May 31st 2025

Seed 130

130 Fenchurch Street, EC3

Open 12pm - 7pm. Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays

Aftermaths

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.

Alluvion

Orchids, through the mechanism of Pouyannian mimicry, offer a striking demonstration of natural selection’s ingenuity. By simulating the appearance of courting insects, these flowers exploit their pollinators’ instincts to propagate their species. This is not the product of conscious design but an evolutionary process honed by countless generations of trial and error. Generative AI mirrors this mechanism, using digital algorithms to simulate mutation, producing images that evolve and transform over successive iterations.

In the tradition of 17th-century still life painting—historically a meditation on mortality—these AI-generated artworks of mutated flower-insect- marine organism hybrids merge nature’s elegance with the uncanny. Petals morph into hyaline fins, stems twist into antennae, and the familiar becomes unsettling. These images, created by algorithms trained on countless flower species, echo the promise and peril of synthetic biology, where human innovation risks dissolving the line between natural evolution and artificial intervention.

The fusion of organic and artificial raises ethical and ecological questions, evoking a vision of biological manipulation that could redefine life itself. Just as still life paintings once warned of life’s fragility, these hybrid forms serve as a modern memento mori, hinting at a future shaped as much by human ambition as by nature’s inherent unpredictability.

MOVE 37

The term "Move 37" gained significance during a pivotal moment in the 2016 Go match between AlphaGo, an AI developed by DeepMind, and professional Go champion Lee Sedol. In the second game of their five-match series, AlphaGo made an unconventional move—Move 37—that stunned both Sedol and Go experts. The move was highly unorthodox, deviating from established human strategies, yet it ultimately proved instrumental in AlphaGo’s victory in that game.

Move 37 symbolizes a breakthrough in AI's creative and strategic thinking, showcasing how machines can approach problems in ways humans might not anticipate, marking a historic moment in AI research and its potential applications

Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten incorporated within the artwork by kind permission of the composer, is performed by Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Tamas Benedek (conductor) courtesy of NAXOS.