In July of 2023, I arrived in Iceland to take part in an artists residency in the remote Westfjords region, in a village called Ísafjörður. Initially I was interested in creating a 'virtual land artwork' in the same vein as Robert Smithson albeit digitally, but had a pivotal moment during the drive up to the residency. There was an abundance of the purple lupine flower stretching alongside the roads. These flowers are famous in Iceland for their summer colours, but when I reached Ísafjörður and was speaking to locals they were a point of contention. The flowers were not native; they had been purposely brought to Iceland in 1945 in an attempt to plant vegetation that would prevent topsoil erosion. Over a century of slash-and-burn deforestation had taken its toll on the land and lupines were a solution at the time. However their rapid spread, coupled with future global warming has become of extreme concern to Icelanders.
With 'Digitally Rewilding the Westfjords' I explored the concept of creating an immersive 3D environment to reimagine the landscape and decolonize the vegetation. I would like to continue to explore the idea of rewilding current populated environments, imagining an alternate world where we had not replaced native vegetation with invasive species, and what that world would look like.
A month after returning home from Iceland, the Maui wildfires broke out. The fires were a tragedy resulting in over 115 deaths. Global warming was the main culprit, but scientists have also attributed its rapid spread to an increase in non-native grass species on the island. These grasses were left to grow unchecked and were highly flammable. This catastrophe happening so closely after creating 'Digitally Rewilding' struck me as a call to arms. Something could be done with my immersive environments that could create a bigger awareness of what is happening with increasing acceleration to our natural world.
Even in this remote wilderness we can see the effects of mankind and the future devastation it could lead to. With ‘Digitally Rewilding the Westfjords’ I would like to explore the idea of rewilding an environment to what it would look like before human intervention, in its most natural and pristine state.
[All 3D animation and music in 'Digitally Rewilding the Westfjords' has been created by myself. To see a behind-the-scenes documentary please visit www.wesviz.com/rewilding1 ]
