José Carlos Espinel & Jennifer Parker
At the Museo Municipal de Arte en Vidrio de Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain. This experimental project traces the relationships between nature and technology, form and possibility, inspired by flowing patterns of seaweed transformed through AI and molten glass, revealing new ways of thinking about adaptation and creation in a changing environment.
Glass and algae share a profound connection rooted in their adaptability, fragility, and responsiveness to light. Algae’s intricate, organic forms, shaped by environmental resilience, inspire the fluidity and transparency of glass. Both materials interact with light—algae transforming it through photosynthesis, glass refracting and playing with it—creating a dialogue between natural growth and crafted form. Algae’s silica-based structures even echo glass’s material origins, forging literal and conceptual links between the two. Through AI, seaweed’s forms were reimagined, giving the master glassblowers a framework to craft works that balance the organic with the artificial, the natural with the technological.
This integration of AI opens a critical conversation about ethics and the environmental impact of technology. We consciously reflect on the energy-intensive processes underpinning AI computation and glass production, exploring ways to critique and discuss these effects as conversations integral to the work.
A sound artwork created with opera singer David Oller engulfs the gallery folding into the rhythm of the works, as shared breath that speaks to the cycles of life. The act of blowing glass—a fragile vessel formed by human exhalation—echoes here, tied to the larger exchange: carbon given, oxygen received, algae at work, sustaining life on Earth. At this moment, the boundaries blur—human and nonhuman, creation and necessity—all part of the same system, each breath a reminder of our place within the planet’s intricate choreography.
From the corner of the room, the ringing of a glass bell cuts through the air, its resonant tone sounding an alarm. It points sharply to the poly-crisis of a changing climate, its clarity juxtaposed with the fragility of the material. The bell’s voice becomes a call to attention, urging us to listen—to the cycles, the cracks, and the possibilities for transformation in the face of environmental upheaval.
Special Thanks to the Museum of Glass Art of Alcorcón and glass artists Marta de Cambra, Diego Rodríguez, Emilio Elvira, Opera singer David Oller, and el Grupo de Investigación Sostenibilidad, Ciencia y Arte (SCIART) de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid and UCSC OpenLab.