Forest Art Intelligence (FAI)

Forest Art Intelligence (FAI) aims to understand how to develop art forms capable of growing and evolving alongside a regenerating forest, whilst also actively benefiting that forest’s health: in collaboration with Samford Ecological Research Facility (SERF) and the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). (See the project's ANAT 2024 developmental blog, and 2025 blog).

The extraordinary intelligences that underpin natural systems is currently inspiring and directing the development of our experimental sci-art process. Our aim is to understand how to develop art forms capable of growing and evolving alongside a regenerating forest, whilst also actively benefiting that forest’s health. We envisage embedded artworks, comprised of ecological materials, capable of slowly finding, and then occupying, their own intelligent ‘niches’, within the forest’s ecology - a speculative form we call an ‘Art Intelligence’. Outcomes will include both these Art Intelligences, the regenerated forest, an ongoing scientific survey of botanical and biodiversity changes, and a series of external hybrid art works suitable for touring exhibition.

Our art+science team have secured unprecedented permission to restore a currently cleared block of land back to high conservation-value forest at the partner's site, Samford Ecological Research facility (SERF) @ Camp Mountain, close to Magandjin (Brisbane). The artwork site is also part of the site’s Engaging Science trail instigated by the TERN’s Education and Training manager Dr. Eleanor Velasquez. As the forest ecology slowly returns to health, we will investigate how to develop symbiotic, process-based artworks across that entire site. We imagine that these ‘Art Intelligences’, would be capable of growing & evolving with the forest whilst occupying their own intelligent, ecological ‘niches’ within that emerging forest – with the forest itself being the project’s ‘meta-artwork’. Our project’s actions, & our on-site creations are therefore intended to directly benefit the forest through both 'performing' ecological functions, whilst also encouraging public engagement with the forest's processes of intelligent natural regrowth. Our project’s actions, & our on-site creations are therefore intended to directly benefit the forest through both 'performing' ecological functions, whilst also encouraging public engagement with the forest's processes of intelligent natural regrowth.

PARTNERS: The ANAT Synapse residency program is supported by the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT), Samford Ecological Research Facility (SERF) and the NCRIS-enabled Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and QUT. FAI is also supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.