Peripheral



—CGI generating video
—Deep generator network
—5.1 surround sound
—2023–ongoing
—No time

[Installation shot at Ca2M, 2023]


CGI animator: David Guerrero
Research: 

Monterey Academy of Oceanographic Science
MBARI
Monterey Bay Aquarium




Peripheral explores the domains of yet another infraworld: the dark unknown ocean. Although the ecology under scrutiny here is one that belongs to the real world —the virtually endless lifespan of comb jellies in tropical seas—, it alludes to the sought-after condition of immortality permeating the dreams and fantasies of humankind since time immemorial. In the face of imminent extinction of various forms of life on planet Earth, Peripheral uses an Artificial Intelligence to generate infinite life cycles of a comb jellyfish— the longest living specie on Earth —, in a timeless myse–em–abyme. The AI never generates the same cycle, the film is always different depending on computer decisions. Every cycle is stored in a temporary buffer where the AI produces a real time edition.
.
Peripheral conflate archaic idioms with futuristic expressions where immaterial elements such as light are rather relevant in a narrative way. Comb jellies are descendants of the earliest lineage of animals to branch off on their own when animals first evolved multicellularity over 600 million years ago and their translucent bodies change color depending on its environment, using luminescence to survive. Their transparent body —and particularly their neverending light spasms— establish different analogies with the neons I usually produce despite being completely different technological bodies