Calum Bowden

Worlds With(out) Us is a social VR journey to the edge of scientific knowledge. The story shifts between human, animal, bacterial, geological and mechanic perspectives to unravel mysteries about the diverse forms of life found around, and deep inside, a lithium mine. Some of these organisms look nothing like what scientists thought life might look like, but they could hold the key to resituating human life in the universe and reanimating its shadows. Participants start by occupying the perspective of various species found around a lithium mine. They must discover the connections in the world around them by working together to get to different stages of the story. They are asked to move around and interact with things in the world, developing ways of using their bodies in alien and unfamiliar ways. The audience observing those in VR witness a social sculpture taking shape from their emergent behaviour.