World Upstream

Amidst the hum of the turbines, a quiet picnic unfolds by the river / A hydropower plant, once a monument to the raw power of (human) technology, now transformed into a site of leisure / Here, a multitude of life forms converge, re-kindling a once disrupted ecosystem.

PNG | 7668px x 2157px | 300dpi Edition: AP 2023

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“If all intelligence is ecological – that is, entangled, relational, and of the world – then artificial intelligence provides a very real way for us to come to terms with all the other intelligences which populate and manifest through the planet.” — James Bridle

“The World Upstream (Stood Still)” is the first publicly released image of “World Upstream”, an upcoming real-time simulation centering the relationship between built infrastructure and the “natural” landscape, through the perspective of an emergent, more-than-human community reclaiming the site of a decaying dam.

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Cezar Mocan is an artist and programmer whose work uses simulation and generative processes as a way to understand the power structures that shape the dialogue between society and technology. You can find his work at https://cezar.io.