MYRIAD. Where we connect.
Immersive Installation
MYRIAD. Where we connect.
Immersive Installation
Category
Science Communication
Immersive Installation
Spatial Design
Data Visualisation
Unreal Engine
Role
Co-Creation
Author
Artistic Direction
Narrative Design
Art Direction
Story and Text
An interconnected system of life
Every year, myriads of living beings migrate across our planet. These migrations, in regular rhythms, are like the pulse, the heartbeat of a single living organism. They are part of the natural rhythm of life and one of the most vivid examples of the close interrelationships and interdependencies that characterize life on our shared planet.
The decisions animals make on their journeys, their interactions with ever-changing environments, and the impact of their migrations on ecosystems deepen our understanding of the interconnectedness of all living beings and their shared habitats.
Situated at the intersection of art, science, and storytelling, Myriad explores the beauty and challenges of the animals’ global migrations in an ever-changing, globally connected world that is increasingly being influenced by humans.
Premiering at the exhibition „Bending the Curve – Knowledge, Action, [Care],“ this interactive project, along with a successful VR experience and a 360° 3D documentary, invites visitors to see the world from the perspective of migrating animals.
A project at the intersection of science, art, and poetic storytelling
„MYRIAD. Where we connect.“ was developed in close collaboration with the Max-Planck-Institute of Animal Behavior and an interdisciplinary team of international scientists, using real data from over twenty thousand tagged animals. These data, sourced mainly from specific research projects and from the Movebank database—a long-term project by the Max-Planck-Institute for Animal Behavior—combine research on animal migration, behavioral biology, climate science, and infrastructure development.
Myriad takes this scientific foundation as the core base for three immersive experiences, showing the complexity of animal behavior and how global animal pathways have been influenced by anthropogenic changes to the environment.
The poetic storytelling, empathic spatial design, and unique soundscape abstract this data to create an empathetic experience that connects human imagination with knowledge about the global interconnectedness of our planet’s ecosystems, looking toward an unwritten future and positive change.
Carbon as connecting element
A central artistic element of „MYRIAD. Where we connect.“ is carbon, functioning as a narrative and aesthetic link between content and form. Created in stars through the fusion of helium and delivered to Earth by countless asteroid impacts, carbon became the building block of life. All living organisms contain this element, making it a key artistic medium in this project and the installation.
Flexible and ubiquitous, the chemical element carbon forms the basis of all life on Earth. Simultaneously, it assumes significance in the current climate discourse when existing as carbon dioxide. Handmade charcoal drawings are integrated into all MYRIAD’s digital formats, blending analog and digital elements in its visual design. In a sculptural setting, like the immersive exhibition, the charcoal drawings transform into a spatial environment.
A spatial experience and poetic journey
The installation transforms the carbon into a spatial setting. The journeys of individual animals are narrated on three large carbon objects.
In 30 minutes animations, visitors follow the flight paths of swarming creatures and the stories of specific species through the elements air, water and land. The last chapter tells the story of human impact highlighting the challenges faced by migrating animals due to barriers, land use changes, and shifts in the Earth’s systems, transforming data into poetic and emotional narrative.
The installation features a unique soundscape, created by kling klang klong. Through specialized speakers and sensors inside the carbon modules, human touches on the carbon objects produce vibrating membranes, making the experience tangible. The acoustic experience follows the concept of Soundscape Ecology, orchestrating biological, human, and non-biological natural sounds.
The abstraction of data and information is transformed through the power of poetic storytelling, sculptural installations, and soundscapes into experiences that, through the means of art, create a connection between human imagination and the knowledge of the global interconnectedness of our planet’s ecosystems.
Immersive Installation | Trailer
Festivals & Exhibitions
2023 – 2024
Frankfurter Kunstverein
2024
Berlin Design Week
Awards
2022
Red Dot Best of the Best
Spatial Communication
Art Directors Club
Winner Gold – Spatial Experience Media
Credits
Executive Producer
Saskia Kress
Michael Grotenhoff (Filmtank, Interactive Media Foundation)
Creative Lead
Lena Thiele (Miiqo Studios)
Sebastian Baurmann (Miiqo Studios)
Dirk Hoffmann (Artificial Rome)
Author, Creative Director, Art Director
Lena Thiele (Miiqo Studios)
Sebastian Baurmann (Miiqo Studios)
Lead Visual Artist
Dirk Hoffmann (Artificial Rome)
Creative Director
Robert Werner (Artificial Rome)
Lead 3D-Artist, 3D-Artist
Christian Rambow
Katharina Przyborowski (Artificial Rome)
Technical Lead Interaction and Tracking
Mateusz Marchwicki (Artificial Rome)
Ferdinand Streicher (Artificial Rome)
Technical Support
Thorsten Sperling-Ufer (Artificial Rome)
Architecture
Hinnerk Dedecke (unit-berlin)
Sonic Experience
kling klang klong
Project Lead
Jochen Watral (Artificial Rome)
Kerstin Klewitz (Filmtank)
Content Director
Antja Karoli (Interactive Media Foundation)
Technical Lead Media Installation
Christian Hergarten (Hergarten | Interactive Environments)
Technical Supply
satis&fy
Exhibition Support, Project Management
Dr. Christian Dirks (BERGZWO)
Communication Lead
Boris Nitzsche (Interactive Media Foundation)
Media Development
Magnus Froböse (Context Film)
Scientific Support
Prof. Dr. Martin Wikelski (Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)
The installation MYRIAD. Where we connect. was produced with the support of the FKV for the exhibition “Bending the Curve – Knowing, Acting, Caring for Biodiversity”.
With scientific support of
Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Waldrappteam / LIFE Northern Bald Ibis
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin / Mediasphere for Nature
Deutsches Meeresmuseum Stralsund
University of Exeter
Ascension Island Government
Zoo in der Wingst
Norwegian Polar Institute
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
zoosuisse
Tiergarten Schönbrunn
In alliance with
WWF
Supported by
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
Canada Media Fund
Bell Fund