Move 37: Aftermaths by Mat Collishaw at Seed130 on 29 April 2025

Renowned British artist Mat Collishaw inaugurates Seed130, at Futurecity’s new cultural space at 130 Fenchurch Street, with two powerful works: Move 37: Aftermaths and Alluvion.

In Move 37, Collishaw examines the paradox of artificial intelligence: its potential to address environmental crises versus its own heavy environmental footprint. The work explores the broader implications of AI, genetic engineering, and industrial waste on fragile marine ecosystems.

These immersive installations explore the tangled relationship between humanity, nature, and technology—blending synthetic biology, AI, and classical visual motifs into a compelling meditation on environmental and ethical futures.

Aftermaths immerses viewers in a dystopian underwater world, where mutated creatures and decaying infrastructure tell a story of pollution and synthetic biology gone awry. Set against the haunting backdrop of Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, it reflects on the resilience of nature and the unintended consequences of human innovation.

Alluvion draws from the rich visual language of 17th-century still life painting, merging it with AI-generated imagery to create surreal, hybridised floral-insect forms. These memento mori challenge our perceptions of life, evolution, and the ethics of synthetic biology, inviting us to consider how far we should go in reshaping the natural world.

About the Space

Seed130 is more than a gallery - it's a temporary creative lab for new ideas, artistic collaborations, and sustainable futures. Curated by Futurecity and supported by a network of cultural and scientific partners, the space is a bold experiment in cultural placemaking at the heart of the City.

Join us as we reimagine what the future can look like—through art, dialogue, and innovation. Seed130 is led by CO–RE for Aviva Investors, with a design team including WilkinsonEyre and Arup. Curated by Futurecity in collaboration with key partners Invisible Dust and Eastern City Business Improvement District.

Visit seed130.co.uk for the full programme and updates. Photography by Graham Fudger, stills of Move 37: Aftermaths courtesy of Mat Collishaw Studio