Carol Siatras
Abstract :
This project explores the creation of novel aesthetic experiences through a performative, site-specific experiment that investigates the relationship between manufactured biological forms and organic terrestrial environments. The work operates on the tension between the earthly (found natural materials, cycles of decay) and the suggestion of the extraterrestrial (fabricated, un-organic sculptures that may at first seem to have something to do with biology but upon closer inspection, are clearly fantasy forms). This intervention, titled “The Glitch in the Ground”, is realised as an intentional disruption—a technological and aesthetic “glitch” introduced into the natural order.
The methodology began with exploratory studio work, creating dozens of small, elemental forms designed to mimic alien life through experimental use of silicone, resins, and reflective coatings. The crucial step involved transitioning these tiny, synthetic components from the studio into deliberately scouted micro-locations within nature—sites of natural growth, emergence, and reclamation. This process culminates in a forced aesthetic dialogue documented by photographs.
The resulting aesthetic is one of speculative integration. The small scale of the synthetic forms, juxtaposed against the vast, resilient natural backdrop, highlights their fragility and isolated vulnerability, suggesting a tentative state of germination or precarious symbiosis. The work is fundamentally impermanent, existing only as a temporary contextual mash-up. Ultimately, the project uses this material and contextual tension to challenge conventional perceptions of natural beauty and argues that novel aesthetic value is born from the relational conflict between tradition, speculation, and human fabrication.
Objectives :
Conceptual Framework :
This project directly engages the symposium theme, “Synthesis: Aesthetics,” by exploring the creation of novel aesthetic experiences through the intentional fusion of the fabricated and the organic. The core conceptual framework posits that true aesthetic synthesis occurs when familiar contexts are disrupted by the introduction of the unknown.
The work operates on the tension between two primary biological registers: the earthly (represented by the natural, micro-locations) and the extraterrestrial (represented by the synthetic, un-organic forms). By situating sculptures that
mimic alien biology—with their engineered plastics, metallic sheens, and acid-colored fluids—within common terrestrial settings, the project initiates a forced aesthetic dialogue. This mash-up fundamentally challenges the viewer’s perception of natural beauty and organic processes.
The resulting aesthetic is one of speculative integration. The synthetic forms are designed to look like they have either just landed, begun to grow, or been fossilised within the Earth’s existing ecosystems. This synthesis is not harmonious; rather, it highlights the jarring contrast, provoking reflection on human intervention, the boundaries of life, and the potential for new, manufactured forms of beauty. Ultimately, the framework suggests that aesthetic value emerges from the relational conflict between tradition and speculative innovation.
Process / Methodology :
The methodology for this project is highly evolutionary, beginning with a phase of explicitly experimental and exploratory studio work. I started without a rigid plan, focusing on creating dozens of tiny, elemental sculptural forms. These elements were guided not by logic or realism, but by a fantasy scenario of otherworldly biology, using a wide range of non-traditional materials and pigmented silicones to achieve highly colorful and evocative aesthetic structures.
Over the past year, the methodology expanded significantly when frequent walks in nature became an essential, unplanned component. This practice shifted the focus to detailed observation of the environment, where I scouted micro locations and documented natural processes and organic forms through extensive photography. This observational data directly informed the scale and specific forms of the sculptures, while also identifying the final sites for placement.
The process culminates in the deliberate mash-up of these two worlds. The studio-fabricated synthetic forms—made of engineered plastics, 3D-printed supports, and polished metallic components—are transitioned out of the insulated environment and placed in situ in the previously scouted natural sites. This final act of contextual placement creates a forced dialogue between materials that are decidedly un-organic and the familiar earthly landscape. Photography then documents the resulting synthesis and the intimate visual interplay.
Techniques and Materials :
The material strategy for this project is built upon the aesthetic and physical contrast between found organic elements and constructed synthetic components. This duality is fundamental to articulating the project’s central synthesis.
The Organic Materials act as the contextual anchor and are collected from the natural sites that inspired the work, featuring objects from the life cycle’s full spectrum: wood (twigs, stumps), seeds, and fibrous husks. These are used in their collected state, often exhibiting neutral colors and natural texture from decay and reclamation (e.g., fungus growth, insect damage).
The synthetic materials are used in constructive and additive ways to develop the “extraterrestrial” biological forms. The primary materials include: silicone and clear casting resins colored with pigments; powdered metals and; and various plastics and synthetic fibers..
The fabrication process is intuitive and experimental, focusing on forms that suggest growth without copying known natural biology. Key techniques include: dipping, casting, cutting, heating, gluing, and filing. For instance, synthetic fibers are layered with glue and enamel to create ‘blooming moss,’ while silicone and resin are cast mid-drip to suggest alien fluid viscosity. The resulting constructions, typically only a few centimeters in size, are then strategically placed to maximize the material tension when photographed against their natural counterparts.
Result / Conclusion :
The final placement and documentation affirmed that the aesthetic synthesis of the project emerged not from harmony, but from jarring contrast and speculative vulnerability. The tiny, often just a few-centimeter scale of the synthetic forms, when placed against the vastness of the full-grown trees in a native landscape, unexpectedly heightened their sense of being foreign and isolated. This observation directly underscores the work’s conceptual focus on a dialogue of hard contrasts.
The resulting visual narrative suggests a state of tentative growth, where the synthetic forms appear fragile, almost hiding, like they are just germinating or developing a precarious symbiosis with a new host or partner. While the reflective materials and glossy colors intentionally stand out as focal points, the work remains physically vulnerable, emphasizing the native environment’s overwhelming strength and capacity for reclamation.
A core conclusion of this experiment is the realized impermanence of the aesthetic experience. Unlike previous studio works designed for isolation and longevity, these site-specific compositions cannot remain, existing only as a temporary contextual mash-up. The final documented image, captured despite the natural environment’s unpredictable elements (glaring sun, heavy downpours, mud, monitor lizards, insects), is thus the sole, permanent record of the synthesis.
References :
Arnold, L. (Ed.). (2023). Groundswell: Women of Land Art. DelMonico Books.
Morton, T. (2019). Being ecological. The MIT Press.
Ramos, F. (2025). The artist as ecologist: Contemporary art and the environment (New directions in contemporary art). Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd.