Augmented Reality Map

OvO is a multimedia installation and research project exploring the relationship between biology, artificial intelligence and storytelling. In the center of OvO’s narrative is a synthetic creature, Hydra vulgaris, who comes to life in an experimental film while telling a fictional story. 

The first module of the work, is a 16-minute experimental film. In this film Hydra vulgaris tells a story about herself that reveals that this creature was modeled on a family of hydras that are considered a model organism in biology. Through the film, Hydra connects the functioning of neural networks with the materiality of asexual biological reproduction, the mechanism of world formation, and the reality-shaping effect of human languages ​​through sprawling associations.

The second element of the installation is an set of translucent prints. These are imprints of Hydra vulgaris’ body. They appear in the form of digital body parts printed on foil and texts from a research journal. The physical installation is mounted on a scattered harness strap system. 

The third element of the work is an augmented reality sculpture connecting the virtual world of the film and the physical installation, while forming a transreal map of the installation. This sculpture is a shape-shifting virtual object that collects the coordinates of the installation’s appearance in the form of a spatially compressed geodesic atlas. The work is present at three locations at once: the exhibition hall of the Panke Gallery in Berlin, the virtual space of the tranzitblog and the muddy soil of the floodplain forest in Csongrád.