DevHarlanOnManifold: Five Body Problems #3, (Afterlives) #4/5

3840x2160, 30FPS MP4 (Video link in metadata)

In the work "Five Body Problems #3, Afterlives", I use photogrammetry and 3D animation to explore themes of global resource extraction and the myth of limitless consumption. The animation depicts a gyrating swarm of discarded technology in one of its most ubiquitous forms – mobile devices. Fields of molten metals ripple in hues of gold, copper, platinum and silver. Large natural boulders push their way through the chaos.

The work Five Body Problems #3 is part of a series which takes its name from the class of mathematical problems involving orbiting bodies. Five body problems are difficult to solve as they are very sensitive to initial conditions and often have unstable solutions. I depict technological decay and disruption as it is not clear if a stable solution exists for human technological societies and the Earth system. Humans can no longer entertain the narrative that their societies and technology are somehow separate from the natural world. They are all entangled and embedded within each other.