The Blooms is a diagrammatic science fiction that uses multiple blooms—drastic shifts in populations of Azolla, tulips, and reindeer lichens, as well as speculative blooms—as its central narrative framework. Through an interactive web of entanglements, it maps the deep-time metabolic shifts, financial speculation, and ecological cycles that shape these blooms. The project critiques capitalist enclosures of nature, linking colonial trade, geoengineering, nitrogen crises, and speculative markets.

How to Use

This interface offers two navigation modes. In Guided Mode, the diagram advances automatically along a suggested path. Your position is indicated by directional arrows: the current connection appears in red, and upcoming possibilities are marked in orange.

In Explore Mode, you can choose your own direction by clicking on nodes that are highlighted in bright cyan, representing the available next steps from your current location.

As you progress, previously visited paths fade into purple, while untouched connections remain gray—allowing you to trace your journey through the speculative network.

Disclaimers

• Some visuals were generated using AI tools.
• None of the images are owned by the artist; many are decontextualized from their original sources.
• Any mention of real individuals or institutions is fictional and speculative.

Credits

All concept, writing, diagramming, design, and implementation by Noam Youngrak Son.
2025, Maastricht