Post-humanity Zoo – Frog’s world

Project details

Category

Immersive & Interactive Art

Short project summary:

‘Post-Humanity Zoo’ is a cross-medium narrative exploring colonialism’s overlooked
history and its environmental impact through posthuman theory, speculative fiction, and immersive media.
Beginning with scientific historical facts, it transitions into speculative scenarios. The first chapter focuses on the
African clawed frog.

Project description:

In 20xx, a deadly pandemic outbreak killed most of humanity. This disaster led a group of zoologists and
environmental activists to build a zoo the world had never seen. The zoo was not about caging and staring at
animals. Instead, it served as a modern archive documenting the consequences of colonial exploitation of the
natural ecosystem, which had precipitated this pandemic’s emergence. ‘Post-Humanity Zoo’ is a cross-medium
narrative that leverages posthuman theory and speculative fiction to explore the overlooked aspects of colonialism’s
history and its environmental impact. The narrative spans virtual, augmented, and physical worlds, beginning with
scientific historical facts before transitioning into speculative scenarios. The first chapter of the project is centered
on frogs. The installation consists of four parts: 1. Virtual reality environment: Here, the narrative begins. As viewers
step away from an anthropocentric position and into the world of frogs, they explore a virtual space in the body of a
frog to learn about the colonial history of the African clawed frog and its connection to pregnancy tests. A history
that led to the spread of a fungus that killed millions of amphibians. 2. CGI animation video: Aiming to protect what
remained of the frogs, scientists and engineers developed a cyborg toad that spread biochemical fungus killers. 3.
Mixed reality story: As a way to save frogs, Inspired by Donna Haraway’s ‘Camille’s Story,’ the mixed reality part
transforms viewers’ hands into webbed frog limbs, inviting embodied engagement with multispecies kinship and
ecological symbiosis, imagining futures where survival depends on transcending human exceptionalism. 4. Two
pieces of taxidermy frogs: Amid global amphibian extinction crisis, scientists preserve frogs through taxidermy.
These preserved frogs serve as sad reminders of disappearing wildlife caused by human actions and deadly
fungus, creating a collection of species we’re losing forever.