di FUSE*, in collaboration with Palazzo Ducale
What does it mean to represent nature in a data-driven age?
In Artificial Botany .morphos III, the artistic studio fuse* explores the subtle boundary between science, art, and artifice, creating an immersive installation that reinterprets the botanical imaginary through the language of artificial intelligence.
The work is shaped from thousands of botanical illustrations—collected from historical archives and scientific atlases—reimagined through generative neural networks in a process that transforms the visual memory of nature into new, hybrid, and timeless morphologies. Projected on the LED wall of the Grattacielo Piacentini – Terrazza Colombo, the visual composition unfolds like a digital plant cycle, oscillating between recognition and invention.
Inspired by a reflection on how plant life was represented before the advent of photography, Artificial Botany challenges notions of authenticity, evolution, and beauty—building a bridge between the scientific taxonomy of the past and the computational aesthetics of the present. In the age of AI, the plant becomes a lens through which to speak of transformation, identity, and impermanence.
Founded in 2007, fuse* is a multidisciplinary art studio working across digital art, computational design, and immersive scenography. Their research is focused on the expressive potential of technology, with a particular interest in large-scale installations and live performances. fuse* has exhibited internationally at institutions and festivals including the Karachi Biennale, STRP Festival, Romaeuropa, Scopitone, Misk Art Institute, and Fondazione Palazzo Cipolla.
