Evolution of Fish

Interactive Augmented Reality Large Projection Installation, by Tamiko Thiel and /p, 2019
Created during an artist residency for the Digital Graffiti Festival, Alys Beach, Florida, May 17th - 18th, 2019

Evolution of Fish is an augmented reality large projection that turns the surroundings--outside on building facades, or inside on gallery walls--into an underwater reef, filled with schools of fish. Visitors can use iPads to guide the fish around the space--but the more they intervene in the virtual ecosystem, the more the fish turn to plastic garbage. Originally created for the Digital Graffiti Festival in the Florida Gulf Coast, the installation includes large silvery Amberjacks, game fish known for their love of debris, and colorful reef fish that will become more common on the Florida Gulf Coast, as they migrate northward due to warming waters.

Gallery installation with large AR projection

Digital Art Space, Director Dr. Karin Wimmer, Munich
Solo Exhibition: 11 October - 30 November 2019

For this participatory installation we asked people to contribute their own plastic waste to hang on all surfaces of the gallery. We transformed the Digital Art Space into an "underwater cave" made of very real plastic, illuminated by our augmented schools of fish--and the visitors in the gallery.

evolution of fish gallery installation

We asked participants to think about what objects included plastic parts, and received nylon stockings, shoes, toys, clothes, pens and other office articles, and of course plastic packaging - including large numbers of bags and tubs for "natural foods." This exhibit will change at each venue to reflect local products and packaging. Visitors to the completed installation will discover many of their own commonly used products in our "cave."

Viewing the Evolution of Fish gallery installation through a smartphone running the Evolution of Fish app.

Evolution of Fish large AR projection incorporates anyone in front of the AR camera into the installation.

Threats to Ocean Ecosystems in the Anthropocene

Evolution of Fish seeks to playfully engage the public in a very serious threat to ocean ecosystems: ocean borne plastic waste. The links below are a work in progress as I seek positive responses to how this can be solved - or at least ameliorated.

Ocean borne plastic waste

Eliminate plastics, especially single use plastics. Each of us can start by reducing our own use of plastics, but we need to put pressure on governments and corporations too. Greenpeace offers a "Million Acts of Blue" toolkit for with ideas on how to proceed. Some countries are starting to ban certain single use plastics already.

"Bioplastics" e.g. from Lego reduce the carbon footprint of production, but are NOT biodegradable. Industrial farming of plants for plastics and biofuels can destroy the environment and push marginal farmers into poverty.
The Global Ghost Gear Initiative addresses "ghost nets" - lost or abandoned fishing nets - that make up 46% of the ocean garbage patches, together with other fishing gear (ropes, traps, crates, baskets).

Hawai'i burns ghost nets to generate electric power. Companies like Econyl are trying to recycle fishing nets and other ocean waste into carpet and textile yarn. And Australian artists "upscale" the ghost nets into artworks.
Improve waste recycling and elimination. China is the largest source of ocean plastics - due to waste mis-management but also because until 2018 Western countries shipped their waste to China for disposal. The USA recycled only 9% of its waste, even before this, and is now struggling to deal with all of its waste itself - perhaps why there is a surge of interest in dealing with plastic waste, as the problem can't be exported anymore.

Indonesia, with the world's 4th largest population and a huge total coastline, is the second largest source, and is finally starting to address the problem. Foreign aid for waste management in developing countries can benefit in many ways - e.g. learning from a town in the Philippines that "upgraded" waste pickers to civil servants.
Innovative ideas upcycle plastics, such as this building in Taiwan (more photos here).

There are newly discovered plastic-eating bacteria , but tinkering with ecosystems can often create even larger unforeseen problems.

Catch plastics before they enter the oceans (at the rate of one truckload every hour). Baltimore Waterfront commissioned trash wheels to collect river borne trash. Ranmarine is marketing their "WasteShark" internationally.

Clean up plastics already in the oceans: The Ocean Cleanup Project has received $35 million in funding and promises to "clean up all the oceans in 10 years" - but only addresses large pieces of the 1% floating near the surface.

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