Darren McNulty is a Creative Media student at The Dundalk Institute of Technology.
McNulty specialises in creative writing and has also produced Net Art in order to develop his artillery when it comes to Creative Media.
Through the use of Adobe, Gify and Image To Ascii, he creates GIF’s commenting on symbiosis between society and technology.
Influenced by rainforest imagery by photographer, Landon Parenteau, McNulty brings in his own illustrations interlaced through
the photography in order to portray how technology is almost inexorable even in nature. The Net Art being created seeks to raise
awareness of how society has “moved online” in terms of developing and maintaining relationships.
Darren McNulty can be reached on Gmail darrenmcnultys@gmail.com as well as his portfolio website on themacmusic.com.
Symbiosis is commonly known as two organisms found in nature who co-habit as well as providing a form of necessity for one another.
However, symbiosis can be defined in other aspects of the world, such as digital culture. Pre the digital age, or the age of technology,
nature parks were seen to be places of escapism and relaxation, an opportunity to become detached from the stress of modern society and allow space for solitary thought.
Contemporarily, we see social media users become so overwhelmed by the pace of modern society that going to a park is seen as an opportunity to scroll endlessly through
social media applications thereby neglecting the intended purpose of attending the park in the first place.
This piece of Net Art exaggerates the possibilities of what could happen if we let digital culture take over more and more natural environments.
The WiFi symbols that can be seen floating around the screen represent the birds that would normally be found in parks.
There are also a selection of “Easter Eggs” to be found within the GIF, some are more noticeable than others.
This was intended to demonstrate how we might not necessarily notice these changes instantly however, if you look close enough, they are there.
For example. When the camera pans right, there is a cable wrapped around a tree branch simulating the motion of a snake.
Finally, the text being used advertises the GIF in order to make it seem like an imminent venture, “Natural WiFi Preservation Park 2030” sounds as if it has been seriously considered.
Although it may have negative connotations, this GIF is here to ask the viewer, is this what they want the future to look like? How much closer do we want digital culture to engage with nature?