MetaGarden

In recent decades we have witnessed technological and scientific progress and breakthroughs at an unprecedented rate. We, as humankind, have become technologically advanced, globally connected, and informed, all of which reflect traditional ideas of the steady progress of civilization. But at the same time, we face many challenges brought about by climate change, air pollution, water shortage, extinction of species, and other natural disasters.

In the series of works called MetaGarden, developed by media artist Tanja Vujinovi?, arts, sciences, and technology overlap to explore our relationship to the environment. She employs science and existing state-of-the-art technologies like nanostructured materials, artificial intelligence, and plasma physics to propose solutions and test the possibilities of dealing with some of the challenges of the Anthropocene. In collaboration with biologists, physicists, and engineers, she develops installations and immersive virtual environments that contribute to the well-being of humans, non-humans, and the environment. Apart from futuristic aesthetic dimensions, the installations have a functional dimension as they are solution-oriented, having the potential to affect change. Virtual 3D environments can be read as future landscapes and habitats but also as meditative spaces that affect mood and emotions. MetaGarden is divided into four Spheres, each consisting of several artworks.

MetaGarden is a science and technology-based artistic vision for gardens of the future, where ‘garden’ is understood in terms of the cultivation of nature and life, as opposed to their exploitation. It offers a glimpse into how existing technologies can be used to find alternative solutions to environmental challenges and invites us to imagine possible futures of the planet.