Hybrid ecologies on the anthropocene: Mar Menor Research

Abstract

ISBE: Mar Menor Research is a media art project at the intersection of ecology, technology and arts. It aproaches the enviromental landscape of Mar Menor lagoon (Spain), a singular ecosystem on crisis, a territory where anthropocene shows its effects.

Under the framework of the Institute for the Studies of Biological Enigmas, a fictitious institution that serve us as a platform to provoke reflection on human behaviour on natural environments, we are extensively researching the natural and cultural conditions of Mar Menor. We have created a series of artfacts as conceptual tools that proposes new ways of understanding landscapes.

The Mar Menor Monster is an artificial life organism that lives in a virtual environment and evolves autonomously in relation with the collected data from the lagoon and its sourroundings. By using augmented reality device (mobile phones or tablets) we can explore the area looking for the monster that change shape, size and location depending on the actual conditions of the territory.

Parameters obtained from data related to water temperature, air pollution, tourism occupation in hotels, etc..configure the basis for growth, transformation and development of the augmented reality Mar Menor Monster. Monster watching reveals different aspects of human beings impact in the area. Mutations and alterations of this creature depend on the evolution of the landscape ecological footprint.