Night Companions

In 'Night Companions,' an installation comprised of sculptures resembling the carapaces of dung beetles, we engage in an extended reality experience using goggles modified with beetle antennas. Seated on a sphere resembling the dung balls these beetles transport, we navigate through the landscape. In the forest clearing, we must locate constellations to help us find feces to add to our ball. Mistakes in identifying the constellations activate the front-facing cameras of the VR goggles, revealing the actual space around us, while a communications satellite engages us with machine-like expressions.

I link real spatial and virtual experiences of human and non-human perspectives. The narrative starting point of the mixed-reality installation is the behavior of dung beetles, which orient themselves using the polarized light of the moon or – on moonless nights – by the Milky Way, if not disturbed by urban light pollution or communication satellites.