The Substitute: can lost nature be artificially replaced?
Artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s video installation was inspired by the death of the last male northern white rhinoceros — and scientists’ plans to bring this extinct species “back to life” using biotechnology. A life-size projection shows the massive creature roaming in a virtual world — alternating between a strikingly lifelike and a pixelated form. These repeated transformations remind us that the apparently real rhinoceros is entirely artificial, confronting us with the question whether man-made objects can ever be a substitute for real life forms.
The animation was created by “The Mill”. The movements and sounds of the animated animal are based on research by “Deep Mind”.
Courtesy of the artist