Vertical Migration

Exploring unknown territories of the pitch-black depth of the sea, Vertical Migration presents a computer-generated siphonophore, a highly polyformic and complex organism that inhabits the deep waters. At first turning around the creature and displaying it from all angles, the video proceeds to shift perspective, disclosing the point of view of the siphonophore. In this slow progression, by surreptitiously changing viewpoints, Vertical Migration aims to intimately connect the viewers with this unfamiliar species, making them discover it in a larger-than-life scale and then enabling them to see the world through its gaze.

The siphonophore’s upward movements to the surface to feed are reminiscent of humanity’s increasingly vertical migration to raised buildings as populations densify. By unveiling spaces inaccessible to the general public’s eye, the video enables a close encounter with another form of life which bears no resemblance to human beings. Yet, by doing so, it seeks to banish the distinction between humans and other living species, by pointing to humanity’s inevitable closeness to this creature, reminding us that we share the same ecosystem and ultimately a common fate.

Vertical Migration, 2021 was originally commissioned by ART 2030 and TBA21–Academy, and developed in close collaboration with Kollision.
Presented by RCRC and Riyadh Art