Sporadical is the most famous photograph to come out of The World After Us, featured on the front of WIRED.com, on CNET, Fast Company, and elsewhere, and frequently used to promote my work and exhibitions. It is a staged studio photograph of a mushroom growing out of a rose gold Apple Watch.

Nathaniel Stern

The World After Us: Imaging techno-aesthetic futures is a photographic & video collection of temporary sculptures that combine plant life with electronic waste, and scientific experimentation with artistic exploration. They take the forms of: dead devices reclaimed by plant life; fossilized and reconfigured phones & laptops; and reimagined & re-formed digital tools.
 
Taken together, the series asks:  

What will digital media be and do, after us? - What will my laptop, phone, or tablet look like in a million years? - How will our devices weather or grow over time? - What else might our techno-waste be? - Where might electronics lead our environmental and economic politics? - Can we plan and act toward new and different futures? 

The World After Us asks us to rethink and transform conversations, thoughts, and actions around media production, use, and waste. At stake are the relationships between humans and the natural world on the one hand, politics and commerce on the other.
