Succession #1-6 (2023)

Succession #1-6 (2023) velvet, expanding foam, mdf, crin, 3D printed PLA, sand. Succession is a term coined by botanist Frederick Clements (no relation). Clements described plant succession as a developmental process through which the community underwent a well-defined series of stages that ultimately resulted in a mature, or climax, community. The climax community was both an indicator and expression of the climatic conditions that determined it. This work plays with the idea of Succession, as described by 2 Clements’s, by imagining a future event whereby all human life has been extinguished but regrows as organic brains that exist without body, controlled movement or obvious purpose. The work also takes cues from science fiction where fears about AI and machine learning taking over from a corporeal humanity abound (The Matrix, The Machine Stops). 15 of the brains have implanted NFC ‘Brain Chips’ each of which narrates a story, in augmented reality, that humanises individual brains. Photo credit @JulesLister