Works of Nature

Artwork
Works of Nature thumbnail image.

Marshmallow Laser Feast is Ersin Han Ersin, Robin McNicholas and Barnaby Steel. The London-based art collective illuminates the hidden forces surrounding us, revealing the sublime through sensory journeys beyond our everyday perception. In collaboration with artists, scientists, musicians, poets, programmers and many more makers, Marshmallow Laser Feast has been leaving a glittery slug trail of sensory experiences as they journey through the cosmos. Fusing architectural tools, contemporary imaging techniques and creative technologies, they sculpt spaces that lay dormant until animated by playful investigation.

From the roots of a majestic Amazonian tree to the unseen branches of the body and the birth of galaxies, Works of Nature is a major immersive exhibition that explores the hypnotic rhythm that cultivates and connects all life – breath.

At a moment of unprecedented global uncertainty, Marshmallow Laser Feast uses technology to offer a new way to see ourselves and the natural world. By combining nature and science, Marshmallow Laser Feast reminds us that we’re just one species in a shared ecosystem and asks, what can we learn from nature to prepare for the future?

Artist notes

Humanity's dependence on the natural world is absolute, from the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. The protection and regeneration of ecosystems is fundamental to our collective futures. But statistics and facts do little to change behaviours, develop new perspectives or create new stories. Marshmallow Laser Feast confronts this issue through awe-inspiring experiences and artworks, revealing a global system that intimately ties animals, plants, humans and the natural world into a wondrous rhythm that underpins life on Earth.

There have been up to 10 mass extinction events in the Earth’s history. Nearly all have been caused by an imbalance between oxygen and carbon dioxide: too much oxygen and things get cold, too much carbon dioxide and things get hot. In an age where excess carbon dioxide is fueling the climate crisis, the simple act of breathing can engage us with this cycle of life in an intimate way, helping us reflect on our dependence and responsibility to the organisms we share the planet with.

Related works

Related events

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has been digitised and can be viewed in the display above.

Collection

Not in ACMI's collection

Previously on display

14 April 2024

ACMI: Gallery 4

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

195668

Collected

32562 times

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/122478--works-of-nature/ |title=Works of Nature |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=7 June 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}