Groundwater Intensive +
SUPERBLOOM
‘Groundwater’ intensive AiR + SUPERBLOOM multimedia artwork and exhibition
Resident lead artist, King's College London, ‘Culture Climate Collective’
As lead artist I worked with the Groundwater group to explore climate activism through art. The group was composed of students studying science and humanities. In a rapid co-creation process my group embodied nature-based being and thinking, investigating themes around biomimicry and natural systems. Find out more about Groundwater HERE.
The result of the Groundwater intensive was SUPERBLOOM, an exhibition presented by King’s Culture, in The Arcade gallery, Bush House. This vibrant and experimental showcase, marked the conclusion of activity from the 22/23 collective cohort.
My group’s final artwork, ‘Second nature’, sought to break down distinctions between human, plant, animal, microorganism and machine.
We proposed that there is no nature separation. Nature is non-binary. Technology is a plurality. After all, the minerals we use to make our machines come from the earth and the very same minerals are found in the human body (the word 'human’ is in itself from the Latin ‘humus’: soil).
This new way of thinking prompted us to ask, can we create machines more like moss? Organisations more like fungi? Microbiomes more like sunscreen? It invited us to wonder what it might be like to live alongside them - would it bring us closer to the more-than-human world?
This new way of thinking explores how nature might resonate through technology. Residing at the intersection of science and spirituality it reimagines nature as our partner, co-creator and guide.
Visitors were able to scan the QR code to join our conversation on Discord, and re-visit to watch the artwork grow over the course of the exhibition.
Accompanying essay here: https://mccray.substack.com/p/rethinking-intelligence
Photography, Dominic Turner and Beccy Mccray
