// new media class

As humanity grows inexorably, we tend to displace and suppress nature. Climate change, overpopulation, agriculture, selective breeding, hunting and fishing leave a huge footprint on our planet.
In the final step of the Anthropocene, flora and fauna die out or evolve to cope with the new circumstances and become subservient to humans. Synantrophe discusses as a speculative postnaturalistic way of existence a vision of the future between dystopia and fascination.

The synantrophe lives in the proximity of humans and takes advantage of the artificial environment we are visibly creating. We supply this new life form with omnipresent electromagnetic radiation, which in turn wants to bring us close to it through a kinetic and auditory spectacle, an active and adaptive luring behavior. The ultimate goal of the synantrophe is to create a physical bond with the digital interface of almost every human: his smartphone. This symbiosis feeds the synantrophe and drives its evolution.

Synantrophe was developed as part of the Island of Things project, which took place in the summer of 2021 on Valentinswerder Island in Lake Tegel.

In collaboration with Dirk Erdmann.