Altered Earth

2012
iOS application
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The Altered Earth app takes the viewer on a surreal and hallucinogenic journey. Created entirely in one region, the expansive Camargue area in southern France, the app facilitates a distinctly modern exploration of landscape and the space between man, nature, and technology.

The Camargue’s mysterious quality is the setting for Altered Earth : a naturally sculpted land emitting a rough beauty and unique individuality. This is a setting where German bunkers are being re-claimed by migratory birds and African winds spread the mediterranean sea over shallow lagoons, revealing salt mines that appear like crystal landscapes from another world.

Altered Earth uses this unique landscape to explore a new expression of the physical world. This artwork reflects on our relation to local and global geography and expands the concept of “place” into a limitless digital universe.

Altered Earth explores multi-channel film, literature, and three-dimensional installation space. The iPad and iPhone app is built around a navigation system that allows the viewer to explore connections between the history of the region and the artwork in a nonlinear fashion. An hour-long, continuously playing film forms the foundation of the app. Nine information visualisation overlays compliment the imagery and can be accessed at any time during film play. Additionally, users can jump from chapter to chapter within the information space – creating a sharp contrast between the hypnotic film and rich visualisation overlays. There are 3D architectural models of vanished history, zoomable satellite maps with imbedded personal experiences and overviews of historical changes in topography and how they relate to culture.