“Metaflora” interactive artwork in show “Virtual Idylls” at the Ogden Museum, summer 2019

Documentation of Metaflora, an interactive, 2-channel media installation, summer 2019. Interactivity by David Sullivan

Metaflora is an interactive installation in two parts. In one section, a viewer sees their silhouette created by blooming magnolia flowers, and in the other, their silhouette browns and decays the same once-blooming flowers.

Inside the life cycle of a plant, one can envision a microcosm of human life on a much shorter time scale. Flowers allow people to reflect on our lives in miniature and respond to the seasons metaphorically. Symbolically, Metaflora extends this by implicating viewers’ actions in the cycles of life.