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Chimeras of Wattenmeer




Wattenmeer, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covers about 60 % of the intertidal zone of the northeastern Atlantic shores, providing an abundant environment for rich biodiversity in the area. As one of the largest tidal flat systems in the world, the natural processes here remain mainly uninterrupted, and the abundance of species is naturally high—however, non-native species choosing Wattenmeer as their home might disturb the harmony of this ecosystem.


Invasive or invasive alien species might have solid ecological impacts on the Wattenmeer ecosystem. This project's concept emerged after discovering the increasing number of invasive species in the region. In Chimeras of Wattenmeer, the potential impacts of these species are visually explored by imagining their interactions and the creation of new life forms that could exist if these species start to interact in response to changes in the ecosystem.



Taking inspiration from mythological beasts to imagine new creatures and drawing from speculative design practices to combine the potential and conceivable, Chimeras of Wattenmeer uses the images of the actual and current invasive alien species of Wattenmeer to imagine and generate the hybrid creatures. 

These hybrid creatures were generated by combining the different species and imagining how they would look if they invaded not only the space in which they lived but also their existence. The technique used in creating these creatures incorporates a generative artificial intelligence model that generates unique images in Touch Designer. The blended images are still frames from these videos produced by using text and image prompts and manipulating them while the system generates visuals live.



Research
For the initial research, I started looking for some keywords. I then conducted general desktop research about the history of Wattenmeer, learning about the tidal structures, important features of the area, and geographical facts about the region.

For this, I did a general literature search and read online resources. Initially, I also researched some creative projects related to nature, climate imagery, and environmental archaeology. Alongside the environment and Wattenmeer research, I also looked into how nature inspired some projects, the role of artistic research, and the methodologies and techniques that eventually shaped my research.



Wattenmeer Quality Status Report

This report is a bundle of different researches about the area of the Wadden Sea, focusing on climate, geomorphology, habitats and communities, species, human activities and the pollution. According to the report, in the last decades, many different alien species have entered this area, which could result in two different scenarios: one would be the homogenization of species, and the other would increase diversity.


Exploring Generative AI 

Stable diffusion was an excellent tool for blending species, exploring different ways to create hybridity, and observing the transition between two species.