Founded in 2003, Troika—comprised of the artist trio Eva Rucki, Conny Freyer, and Sebastien Noel—works across various media, including sculpture, film, installation, and painting. For the SCHIRN, the group developed a site-specific, immersive installation combining new and existing works, which appeal to different senses of perception. They explore alternative forms of intelligence—plant, animal, human, artificial—and how they probe the understanding of place in a more-than-human world. The exhibition reflects upon earthly and otherworldly landscapes and the transformation of nature in the twenty-first century through the rise of technology.

How does technology filter the perception of nature? What forms of life shall take root in such mediated landscapes? The installation “Buenavista” conjures the environmental imagination of an alternative intelligence, one whose dreams are shaped by human memories and fantasies. Spectacular scenes of nature flash across screens and decorate computer desktops: palm-fringed beaches, ice sheets punctuated by lakes of turquoise meltwater, rippling sand dunes under starry skies. Forests are surveilled by cameras perched in treetops, on the watch for storms and wildfires. Climate models predict long-term changes in the biosphere. In a society saturated with digital images, descriptions, and simulations, Troika’s work presents a vision of environmental yearning that transcends human embodiment.

As developments in artificial intelligence rapidly advance, conceptions of human intelligence and agency are shaking and shifting. In place of objective and readily quantifiable human characteristics, there emerge intimations of other-than-human modes of awareness, coordination, and intention. What if plants show purpose and altruism, or demonstrate a sense of kinship much like animals? What if technological advancements in robotics and computation wander astray from the imperatives of efficiency, speed, and optimization for which they were programmed? Might emerging intelligences amplify or, alternatively, resist the extractive tendencies that drive the present environmental crisis?