Towards Re-enchantment

In 2008, a new edition of Oxford Junior Dictionary removed a number of basic nature words, replacing them with the words like database, celebrity, voicemail and bullet point. As the words of nature are slowly being replaced by the words of technology, a profound loss is being experienced. We’re loosing the kind of language magic that enchants our imagination and nurtures our relationship with nature and landscape. In process, we become grownup children deprived of awe and wonder.

Inspired by expeditions to bioluminescent bays of Puerto Rico, this multi-sensory, immersive installation became an invitation to rediscover the magic of nature and engage with the pleasures and playfulness of the childhood. The urban gallery in the extreme environment of NYC became a refugee to a tranquil and healing nature encounter.  As creatures that evolved with nature, we have an evolutionary need to spend time in natural environments. This exposure helps improve cognitive function, reduce stress and provides opportunities for discovery, creativity, and rumination. Akin to forest bathing, Towards Re-enchantment submerges the viewer with the waves of the tropical ocean, resetting parasympathetic nervous system.

For this installation bioluminescent algae called dinoflagellates were grown in the lab over the course of the month. In the wild, dinoflagellates "charge" during the day when they photosynthesis energy prom the sun and expel light upon mechanical contact during the dark hours. Since the exhibit took place during the day, I had to flip the circadian rhythm of the organism to the opposite schedule. The algae was placed in light controlled insulated house and fed nutrients for two weeks.

"Towards Re-enchantment" was exhibited as in immersive installation in NYC alongside "Phantom Limb" in 2022.