Finished
An Uncanny Valley
Nature modelled after images
An Uncanny Valley (2023) is an audiovisual installation by Andreas Höfert, made as his graduation project. It asks how we imagine nature through the lens of conservation: which regulations and ideologies lie behind our conservation efforts, and whether they actually serve nonhuman ecosystems.
The case
The work takes the UNESCO Biosphere Park Großes Walsertal in Western Austria as its case study.
The landscape
The installation presents a hypernatural landscape derived from the park's biotope registers, plant inventories and park aesthetics. It looks pristine and untouched, yet it depends on hidden digital and mechanical processes, just like the park it is modelled on. In this way the work challenges a romantic idea of nature as something separate from human influence.
How it was made
- The park's zoning data was overlaid on geodata and landscape models.
- The landscape is populated with species according to the park's regulations.
- The plants come from online 3D libraries or were modelled by hand.
What is shown
A three-minute video, a digital 3D model of the landscape, booklets documenting the process, and a physical installation with a projection.
Exhibited
A first prototype was made in April 2023. The final version was shown at Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam in July 2023, and announced on e-flux.
More on the project page at andreashoefert.at