Fut ur es, Vol. 27, No. I, pp. 735-741, lYY5 Elscvier Science Ltd zyxwvutsrqpo 0016-3287(95)00041-O Printed in Great Britain 0016-3287195 $10.00 + 0.00 zyxwvutsr BEING C O NSO LED? Virtual nature and ecological consciousness Nigel Clark New techniques in the simulation of nature are giving computer-generated environments a more organic appearance. In particular, developments in ‘artificial life’ modelling promise to populate future cyberspaces with diverse, autonomous beings. This can be viewed as an impending estrangement from ‘real’ nature, but we might better conceive of virtual natures as a culmination of a lengthy Western tradition of representing the natural world in increasingly exuberant two- and three-dimensional forms. It is suggested that the ecology movement is implicated in the ascendance of simulated nature, and must come to terms with the ‘reality’ of mediation, rather than privileging the notion of unmediated, ‘primordial’ nature. zyxwvutsrqponm A c luste r o f g e o me tric fo rm s ma te ria lize s, ro ta ting in sp a c e a s the y c o nfig ure the m se lve s into a futuristic ve hic le . Hum a n a c to rs-o r a t le a st, the ir visua l d e le g a te s-ta ke the c o ntro ls. The c ra ft a c c e le ra te s d o w n a c o rrid o r d e line a te d b y c ub o id a rc hite c ture . Eva d ing b a rra g e s o f re d ne o n tra c e rs, it ne g o tia te s p a ssa g e s a nd c o rne rs in a tra je c to ry tha t d e m a nd s m a the m a tic a l p re c isio n. The la nd sc a p e is c o ld , g re y-b lue , its sleek surfaces broken o nly b y stria tio ns o f lig ht a nd the hie ro g lyp hs of m ic ro c irc uitry. It is a ha rd , se a m le ss re c tiline a r wo rld , devoid of non-human life o r o rg a nic fo rm s. In a c o nte m p o ra ne o us c o nstruc t, a disembodied c o nso le o p e ra to r na vig a te s thro ug h a universe c o m p o se d o f ‘ b rig ht la ttic e s o f lo g ic unfo ld ing a c ro ss the c o lo urle ss void’.’ Ag a in, its c o nto urs a re g e o me tric , g rid -like , a complex The author is in the Department of Sociology, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. 735