Remnants is a VR installation that presents a speculative future where humanity no longer exists. In this simulated world, decades have passed since the last human walked the Earth. What remains is the resilience of nature, flora and fauna that have endured the Anthropocene alongside the reawakening of mythical beings from forgotten times.
When we imagine the post-apocalypse, it is often depicted as a barren, desolate world. Popular media and literature emphasize this emptiness, implying that the world ends with us. However, nature has been evolving to overcome cataclysms for millennia, a trait we do not share. What remains of our legacy is our prized plastic waste, outliving our civilization.
In Heather Davis's essay Plastic, she describes this material as the condensation of our extractive practices. Oil is made from the life of our earthly ancestors, compressed by geological time. It is alarming to consider how we have transmuted the deceased into energy and objects that now smother the planet. Within Remnants, the apocalypse was caused by human-driven climate change and the rise of mythical beings, unearthed and unleashed as a response to exploitation and extraction from the land. Among these chthonic entities is Bakunawa, an elemental being that has deemed humanity unworthy of the Earth. This old god enacts karmic justice, eradicating humans for their transgressions against the planet.
In this new world, arthropods who were once pushed to the brink of extinction inherit the Earth. Their resurgence symbolizes both ironic fate and poetic justice, reflecting a vision of resilience and renewal that transcends our arrogance.