Slow Walker

Tardigrades are microscopic survivors, capable of resisting extreme temperatures, from the absolute freezing point to extreme heat. They survive in space and can remain frozen for thirty years, resist vacuum and radiation through a chemical kind of suspended animation. Yet they are highly sensitive to climate change, when their environments are threatened due to a rise in temperatures in their natural habitats, wetlands and moss. They are resilient fighters in a microscopic format. Monumental, yet ephemeral creatures floating between life and death; as a symbol, as mystical beings, and as sculptural objects in their own.

The Slow Walker project by Peder Bjurman aims to place microscopic tardigrades as gigantic AR-objects in the city square Vaksala torg, and make them visually present using geo-fencing and smartphones. The colossally enhanced creatures measure about 50×100 meters, and move extremely slow through the square, grazing and interacting with the audience as they come closer.