Spacecoralia

Digital Animation Film.
Exhibited at: The Age Of. in Stockholm and Out of the Sea at Contemporary Arts Centre of Brest, France.

On Earth, the most diverse example of a symbiotic ecosystem is the Coral Reef. More species variety coexists in Coral Reefs than in the Rain Forest.

Spacecoralia is a 3D animation film drawing parallels between underwater living organisms and our fantasies of life outer-space. Based on biological studies in collaboration with the I.U.E.M maritime center and his research on early underwater imaging,  Pausz models the birth and evolution of a Coral-like ecosystems on Mars, which feeds on the remnants of a human astrobotanical experiment. The forms, colours and agencies of the new hybrid species of Spacecoralia are animated using mixed-media techniques, and borrow from the style of early underwater photography as well as new digital aesthetics. In a meaningful reversal of perspective, making models of a scenario for symbiotic life on Mars becomes a mirror to understand the complexity of one of the most endangered life form on Earth: Corals.