Aluna

Matthew Plummer-Fernandez206/206

Aluna is the insistence that the world is made and shaped through ideas as well as processes. The series is inspired by the human-led speciation of plants such as orchids and irises, and animals such as goldfish and betta fish - whose features are often exaggerated. Not all speciation is towards ornament - our ancestors developed foods and natural materials through years of selection and hybridization, and this is continued today helping discover new resilient forms. Our ability to imagine and reshape living organisms as well as entire ecosystems is brought into focus through climate change.

The name Aluna is based on the philosophy of the Tairona people of Colombia, survived through present-day descendants. This Andean philosophy maintains a fundamentally different perspective about the role of humans - occupied with the imagining, enhancement, and nurturing of life.