Fluid Futures

A 3-metre arch at Kumototo Plaza generates a fine mist curtain across a pedestrian bridge. On it: phytoplankton. Not the species in the harbour today. The ones that might exist in 2050, 2150, and 2320—populations that have adapted across generations to warmer, more acidic water and changing light conditions. They're built from actual oceanographic data (temperature, salinity, and pH readings from Wellington Harbour) and AI-generated animation, drifting across the mist surface, visible until you walk through them.

The work runs in evenings from 5:30 to 9:30 PM from April 18-25. Sound design by Neil Aldridge moves through three temporal states—near, far, and very far future—in a continuous environmental soundscape that gives the biological shifts a texture you can hear as well as see.

The project is built in collaboration with NIWA scientist Dr Antonia Cristi. Her ocean data and biological research are what keep the speculative scenarios from becoming pure invention. The mutation patterns, the chemical signaling, and the morphological changes are all grounded in how phytoplankton actually respond to environmental pressure. The AI generates the imagery; the science determines what that imagery can legitimately show.