INVISIBLE CITIES

INVISIBLE CITIES is a morphing and decaying virtual world that envisages impacts of climate change on a fantasy Venetian scene through glimpses of the fragile biology surrounding the media ecological landscape. The project utilised scans of 3D urban environments, and aspects of tech manufacture – e-waste dumps, antennae and server centres - warping and morphing in virtual 3D. The player navigates a landscape that is quickly sinking, with glimpses of the environmental impact of media and biology intertwined. Much like the Calvino story, the environment shifts, morphs, and appears to live and die, turning into a technological wasteland as the player traverses it.
Invisible Cities is named after Italo Calvino’s novella in which its protagonist, Marco Polo, describes various shifting and vibrant urban environments he’s encountered. As the story evolves, it becomes apparent Polo is embellishing characteristics of just one city, Venice. The richness and variety observed is indicative of biodiversity being affected by technological manufacturing and disposal. Invisible Cities is reminiscent of the micro and macro duality of ecological impacts – seeming as vast as a galaxy and yet miniscule.

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