A Timely Mediation on Nature and AI
Glory Mold 2084 is an immersive site-specific work that takes the audience into the near future. Developed by creative XR theatre lab Produced Moon, the show aims to get audiences to evaluate their relationship to nature and AI. The work is both thoughtfully considered, and thought provoking.
The installation is set in a world that has been ravaged by drought, a husk of a disused data centre has been taken over by ‘playful fungi fuelled AI’. Audiences interact with a specifically trained, locally run AI in the middle of an industrial space. Produced Moon have taken pains to state that the show is “art about AI, but it is not AI art. It is not pro AI, but it also isn’t anti”. It makes use of the Mistral model on ethical grounds.
The installation is a multisensory ecosystem. Molly M. Whawell’s industrial design paired with Muireann Nic an Bheatha’s biomaterial props and Michael-Jon Mizra’s sound design creates a space that feels haunted but not unwelcoming. There has clearly been a lot of thought put into the design elements of the space. I particularly enjoyed the tangible interactive elements. The slime mold became thirsty, and audiences had to turn a physical crank in order to get the mold to speak again. The team should also be commended for their commitment to accessibility. There was a range of options available for audience members with a variety of access needs from noise cancelling headphones, to BSL timeslots.
Glory Mold 2084 brings up a lot of interesting questions about our relationship with AI, data centres and the environment. Audience members drifted in and out, engaging with the model in a range of ways. Conversations ranged from asking the model what its favourite things were, to talking about 67 to discussing collectivist ideas about ecosystems. I attended the show in the middle of St Enoch’s shopping centre, and whilst I was initially skeptical about this venue, it was wildly successful. A huge range of audience members were able to filter in and out of the space and interact with the model. The audience is granted a huge amount of agency which is a major part of what makes this show effective.
The space the installation occupied was fairly small. It would be great to see it in a larger space, potentially with more interactive elements. There is great potential to build up more of a storyworld around the installation. I would be surprised if this is the last time audiences get to see Glory Mold. It is timely, well designed and would be successful in a wide range of venues.