The artwork is an intervention in the forest, with a number of cocoon-shaped sculptures placed in the forest floor that sense the communications (or biochemical activity) of nonhuman entities through bioelectricity. The result is an experience of a sentient forest, producing for human senses glimpses of the hidden signaling that makes the forest an active, living network. Bending human-centered technology, Cesar & Lois train AI with nonhuman data to recognize patterns that do not follow human criteria or logic.
Towards a Boreal Intelligence was previewed at Ars Electronica 2023 in the More-than-Planet Lab. Boreal Intelligence premieres as an installation and AI prototype at Photo North - Northern Photographic Centre in Oulu, Finland in Fall 2024.