Paper short abstract:

Holoparasite is an interactive audiovisual performance piece that speculates on future plastic ecologies through the fictional discovery of a new parasitic flower morphospecies that has evolved to adapt to the infiltrating amounts of microplastics found in the earth’s layers.

Paper long abstract:

Holoparasite is an interactive audiovisual performance piece (20 min) that speculates on future plastic ecologies. Paraphrasing elements from ‘Plastic Matter’ by Heather Davis and ‘Imperial Debris: Reflections on Ruins and Ruination‘ by Ann Laura Stoler, the performer guides the audience through a performative lecture. The narrative touches upon queer kin with plastic, plastic pollution in our bodies and environments, the parasitic quality of the Rafflesia flower and colonial aspects of waste circulations.

The work follows the fictional discovery of a new parasitic flower morphospecies that has evolved to adapt to the infiltrating amounts of microplastics found in the earth’s layers. The story occurs in the Cacupangan cave system in Pangasinan, the Philippines, a subterranean kilometres-long labyrinth of tunnels and underground rivers. Taking its color from the acidic green plastics of Mountain Dew soda bottles which are commonly upcycled and repurposed across rural provinces, the emergence of the flower reveals a history and future far beyond its isolated habitat.

The work resulted from the artist’s ongoing field research on climate adaptation strategies between the Philippines and the Netherlands, uncovering how local environmental, spiritual, and cultural conditions shape adaptation in times of planetary crisis.