«GONE WILD» is a multi-layered interactive installation. Our world is changing, and we can all feel it. We, as humans, are slowly losing control and need to take action. In recent studies, researchers are investigating how to make plants grow more efficiently with LED light. To show how vital the preservation of nature is for humans, we chose a rather unusual approach by juxtaposing an industrial and artificial environment, namely a steel scaffolding framework, with plant-like structures — the lights — that are growing from the ceiling. The fact that the natural elements themselves do not exist in this installation is a foreshadowing of a futuristic scenario where even the plants themselves are replaced by artificial elements.

The two interactions that are possible in the room are further indications of human impact on nature. Firstly, when one walks through the room, contact microphones attached to the floor record one's footsteps and play back an altered version through a surround speaker setup that severely changes the perception of the room. Additionally, they influence the brightness of the flickering lights, implemented in the form of long and flexible electroluminescent wires. This interaction lets the visitor become aware of their footprint in the world and symbolizes that even small human interventions have a major impact on the natural environment. The second interaction in the room installation is realized with the help of a capacitive sensor attached to a light bulb in the room. It measures the proximity of the human and in turn triggers the corresponding light to shine brighter. The nearer one comes to the corresponding light, the brighter it shines. Once touched, all the lights in the room brighten exponentially, therefore completing the symbiosis of humans and nature. Note that we wanted to shed a positive light (no pun intended) on the nearly dystopian situation we as a species are currently engaged in and show that a possibility of coexistence between humans and nature can and should be possible.