NATURAL CONTACTS
Mark Fingerhut, Matthew D Gantt, Bridget DeFranco & Peter Burr / United States / Interactive Installation / 2024 / International Premiere / 1440 min
NATURAL CONTACTS is a piece of malware designed to arrest control over its host machine for 24 hours, transforming it into a dynamic virtual garden.
Every component of the imposed malware was designed for a slow collective drama unfolding around a quietly rotting corpse. As the piece progresses, the once verdant landscape transforms into a barren, snow laden field, only later to become overgrowth. Seasonal birds, appearing from offscreen, come to rest on the branches while flies disappear behind the movement of the cursor. As days become nights and the seasons pass, remnants of the landscape’s prior states reappear as wind-swept images strewn across the desktop.
Taken as a whole, the work presents a world where technology and nature coexist in a strange balance that doesn’t take into account the wishes of its user.