Synergy is an interative artwork created by the CREATE society at UNSW. I worked as a designer creating sitemaps, objects, overall concept.

Synergy presents as a pretty tableau from nature: a large plywood tree surrounded by similarly stylised ferns. However, this deceptively simple scene is actually a representation of a complex superorganism. Using interactive technology, it demonstrates how inconspicuous microorganisms are absorbed into a greater whole and play a key role in the survival of a greater being. It draws inspiration from mycorrhizal networks where fungi connect and nourish plants, working together to sustain each other.

People can move freely through the work's large area, but when they come into close proximity to the ferns, the whole organism reacts. It shares information visually by pulsing light along the roots towards the central tree, and the lighting on the ferns begins to dance - as if the tree has in turn warned them of approaching danger.