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Hypernature

Manufactured nature that’s better than the real thing

Much of the so-called ‘nature’ in our lives has taken on an artificial authenticity. Engineered tomatoes are redder, rounder, and larger than the ones from our gardens. We have made fluorescent fish, featherless birds, and botanical gardens that contain species from every corner of the globe. Human design has made nature hypernatural. Hypernature is an exaggerated simulation of a nature that never existed. It’s better than the real thing: a little bit prettier, slicker and safer than the old kind. Hypernature is culture in disguise.

Staff Picks

In Animatus, Hyungkoo Lee reconstructs the skeletal and muscular anatomy of Wile E. Coyote
‘It is only when second nature develops that nature appears as a concept. Once the techniques are in place for making nature into a resource, for trapping or taming it, an appreciation arises for nature in its raw state’
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N is for Nature

NextNature.net

There are people who think what makes a good wine comes from nature - factors like rain and soil and temperature. Then …

Pimp My Planet

 After the worldwide acceptance of plastic surgery, it was time to subject our worldly possessions and digital identities to an aesthetic and/or functional upgrade. Everything can be pimped. Even our own planet.

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Acoustic Botany

Michael Kluver

With his speculative ‘acoustic garden’ David Benqué tries to explore our cultural and aesthetic relationship to nature. …

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Branded Butterfly Wings

Van Mensvoort

"A glowing green logo drawn by scientists on the wing of a genetically altered butterfly could herald the day that the …

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Genetically Modified Salmon moves to Kitchen Table

Van Mensvoort

The US Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that …