Aquatic Fauna Research Lab (A.F.R.L.) Chapter 2: Adapting and Evolving – Anemoon on Fire & Rik Laging

1 February 2024

until

4 February 2024
Art Rotterdam
At Art Rotterdam Anemoon on Fire & Rik Laging presented a mysterious lab filled with research notes on marine biology. Showcasing extraordinary deep-sea creatures that didn’t succumb but adapted to a changing world, embracing plastic waste, radiation, and more.

From an early age Anemoon on Fire has been fascinated by fantasy creatures like dragons and deep-sea monsters. She loves everything that is even a little bit creepy. Anemoon speculates about the influences of climate change on the ocean, like marine plastic spills and nuclear disasters, and translates these ideas into mysterious new life forms. She shares these rather dystopic speculations about the future with Rik Laging, who is into science-fiction and the stories of HP Lovecraft. Together, Anemoon and Rik presented an abandoned lab that once researched a series of mutated and evolved deep-sea creatures. However, due to an electronic shutdown, only analogue images, cryptic notes and speculative lore can be found in the lab. Through Rik’s digital image manipulation and green screen video techniques they brought Anemoon’s ceramic sculptures to life.