“Thinking about the local and the global, the younger generations are experiencing something more extreme. This is a global society of digital natives; there are generations growing up around the world that are talking the same way. It’s really a blur now, and it will be interesting to see the effects of this.”
As part of “For Children. Art Stories since 1968” the installation The Lost Jungle (2021–25) in the Terrassensaal by Tromarama (est. 2006, Indonesia) fits seamlessly into the work of the collective dedicated to the evolving relationship between humans, nature and technology. The artwork is inspired by the aesthetics of early video games and 3D animation, and depicts a fantastical, lush, digital jungle inhabited by abstract creatures. It draws on the rich but endangered flora and fauna of Indonesia, and highlights the threat that human activity poses to ecological balance through rapid urbanisation and deforestation in Southeast Asia. The fictional jungle feels both nostalgic and foreboding – like a synthetic paradise in which biodiversity can be simulated but not preserved.
The creatures that populate The Lost Jungle are generated in real-time simulation. They can be designed from anywhere via a website created by Tromarama. The patterns, shapes and colours available are inspired by animals that are currently endangered. The weather conditions in the installation further connect the artwork to the outside world – they are based on live weather data from Munich, which is fed into the simulation.
The work becomes a portal between reality and virtuality, memory and myth. In direct sightline to the English Garden, its conceptual tension becomes apparent: inside the exhibition, visitors encounter a digitally created landscape that in reality is haunted by ecological collapse; outside lies one of the largest urban parks in the world – an analogue and manmade landscape that has likewise become a refuge for many species.
Create your own jungle creatures here: