NeoMeta*
NeoMeta*
Julia Shu
Kyiv, Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine
Listening (the Path) to Interspecies Kinship · April 2025 · Bio-art short film
Can we listen to those whose voices are fading into silence amid ecological crisis and human aggression? NeoKin reimagines a fragmented ecosystem in which Physarum polycephalum navigates a terrain of discarded electronics and fossils, embodying resilience where nature and culture are now inextricably intertwined.
Date — April 2025
Medium — Bio-art short film, new media and soundscape
Featuring — Physarum polycephalum, discarded electronics and fossils
Methods — Cultivation and time-lapse filmmaking
Inspired by Ukraine's war-altered environments, global social unrest and environmental crisis, NeoKin amplifies nonhuman voices, mirroring both destruction and regeneration in landscapes affected by conflict.
Based on time-lapse footage of Physarum's growth, the film transforms into a shifting map of Ukraine, mirroring how living systems navigate volatile environments. Through these interconnected elements, NeoKin challenges anthropocentric perspectives and redefines home as a shared, evolving space where technology, biology and land intersect in an ongoing negotiation of survival, adaptation and resilience.
The work asks what we can learn from these processes about regeneration and living within balanced ecosystems.