Entangled Others (Feileacan Kirkbride McCormick & Sofia Crespo)
(di)atomic garden
(screenshots from the (di)atomic garden)
(di)atomic garden is an artwork in the form of a real-time, performative system. It explores moments of resonance between how radioactivity acts as a mutative force, combined with it's witting/unwitting relevance for the worlds ocean in both the historic context of nuclear contamination, as well as the ongoing reframing of the oceans through agri-industrial lensing. Here the atomic garden is tasked as a bridge between terrestrial and the oceanic as their borders are uneasily dissolved.
Radioactivity has a powerful, altering effect on genomic material. Here the work explores how two disparate datasets of images (historical agricultural crops and antarctic marine plankton) as colliding gene pools mutate through the virtual simulation of an atomic garden. Starting with digitised signals from a geiger counter monitoring a small quantity of uranium ore: the emission of charged particles by decaying uranium ore are sampled, and then used to drive a virtual re-enactment of the atomic garden. Each specimen planted in this virtual space is a careful translation of images into pseudo-genetic code and algorithmic encapsulation. This new, virtual form leaves them vulnerable to mutation when irradiated by charged beams of radiation, leading them to mutate and interact with each-other. The planted specimens can be explored through the browser interface that acts as a safe window into this continuously growing, mutating and decaying virtual garden.
The project draws on the little-known history of atomic gardens: experimental fields developed after the Second World War to research “peaceful” applications of nuclear energy. By exposing crops to radioactive materials, researchers induced mutations that sometimes resulted in higher yields, new colours, or novel forms. Remarkably, some of these varieties still appear in contemporary seed catalogues. At the same time nuclear weapons testing, reactor accidents, and industrial activities introduced radioactive residues into the world’s oceans. As a result, many marine organisms, from plankton to fish, now live with chronic, low-level exposure. While the effects of high radiation doses are well studied, the long-term ecological consequences of low doses remain uncertain, particularly when combined with ocean warming and acidification. These unresolved questions form the conceptual backbone of (di)atomic garden.
Read more about the work here.
(selected mutated specimens)
This work is a commission for ORBIT_E, the online exhibition platform by MBAL (Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle), curated by Dr. Marlene Wenger, Curator at HEK (Haus der Elektronischen Künste) in Basel.
Entangled Others is an experimental artist duo composed of Feileacan Kirkbride McCormick and Sofia Crespo. Their collaborative practice delves into the intricate web of relationships between the more-than-human world and its interaction with human technologies. Driven by the concept of entanglement—a complex state where no single entity exists in isolation, and every action, interaction, and expression resonates through a multitude of interconnected beings.
In their practice, McCormick and Crespo explore the uncanny and eerie spaces that lie between human technologies and non-human worlds, advocating for the dissolution of the self-imposed distance that separates us from the richness of our interwoven existence. Their art emphasises the necessity of recognising and nurturing the diversity and interconnectedness that define our shared environment.
Through their work, they question notions of bias in technology, and the representation of natural species: proposing a return to a biological model of computation, and exploring concepts of entanglement across various species & ecosystems. Entangled Others invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries between the human and non-human, encouraging a deeper appreciation for the intricate tapestry of life that sustains us all.
They have participated in talks, exhibitions and have been awarded prizes internationally. Some of these include presentations at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, NeueHouse LA, MIT, Re:Humanism, Oxford University, UNESCO HQ Paris, Goldsmith University, Times Square Midnight Moment among many others. Their work also forms part of prestigious private and permanent institutional collections such as the Buffalo AKG Museum, Onassis Foundation, Colección SOLO, among many others.