Plastic Sarira 



Plastic Sarira is a web-based media art project that presents a virtual ecosystem in which computer-programmed life forms and 3D-scanned plastic marine debris coexist in symbiosis. Audiences can participate in this simulation as an avatar and interact with various organisms and microplastics. However, these interactions leaves traces on the participants through  the transmission (inhalation, consumption) of microplastics, which accumulate and cluster inside their body as a 'sarira'. This process emphasizes humans as interdependent, synthetic beings that are both intimately affected by and influence other organisms and objects in our already plasticized world.




IDEATION



Image description: Sariras.
Photo by: Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour
Image description:Microplastics 
Photo by: Erik Zettle

Image description: Jinsin Sarira.
Photo by: unknown

Image description:Polyethylene microbeads
Photo by: Kosuke TanakaHideshige Takada


SKETCHES


Image description: Early Concepts, Idea Sketches, 2D prototypes


MARINE WASTE PLASTIC DATASET





We collected, categorized and 3D scanned over 300 waste plastics from 11 beaches surrounding South Korea.


PUBLICATION





Exhibition




Direction & Programming
Park Syemin, Choi Seunghee

Sound Design
Unknown Kim

Web Design & Publishing
1-2-3-4-5 Studio

Funding
Arts Council Korea, Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Exhibition
2024 Gwangju Biennale Pavilion, Ha Jung-woong Museum of Art
2022 Art Change Up Online Platform
2021 Gathering Moss, co-hosted by Art Center Nabi, Watershed, Bang&Lee

Technology
3D Scanning, Point Cloud Visualization, Artificial Life Programming, Convex Hull Algorithm, WebGL, Generative Sound

Site
︎︎︎ Project Website 


Mark