Symbiosis of Mutation

This project explores the profound ecological and existential crises arising from political decisions affecting the Earth’s environment, with a particular focus on the nuclear pollution that threatens to reshape ecosystems and human existence itself. Addressing the pressing issue of nuclear waste disposal, it serves as a visual and theoretical commentary on the recent decision by Japan to release 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive water into the ocean. This act, if carried out, may set a dangerous precedent for future environmental policies, likely leading to irrevocable ecological harm and long-term genetic mutation across species.

Drawing from theories of post-humanism and environmental psychology, this work visualises a speculative future where nuclear pollution fundamentally alters marine and human biology. As marine organisms adapt and mutate in response to severe contamination, a symbiotic integration into human biology becomes conceivable, suggesting that humans might eventually become hosts to mutated marine lifeforms, resulting in a hybrid species that embodies a forced symbiosis.

In line with my broader research focus on identity, embodiment, and the fluidity of boundaries between species, this project contemplates the potential for new, adaptive forms of identity to emerge from environmental trauma. The symbiotic relationship envisioned here disrupts the distinction between human and non-human, suggesting an existential and ontological shift where human bodies transform into parasitic vessels, merging the natural and artificial in a way that questions both ethical and survivalist imperatives. Through this lens, Symbiosis of Mutation critically examines our ecological future and the transformative, if unsettling, evolution of humanity in response to environmental degradation.

This work encourages viewers to confront the global impact of political decisions on ecosystems, compelling a reflection on humanity's role within the natural world and our accountability to it. By connecting environmental activism with speculative art, it underscores the urgency of responsible ecological stewardship while envisioning a provocative future shaped by humanity’s response—or lack thereof—to environmental crises.