Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley is an ongoing project that explores the contradictory relationship humans have with nature. We find ourselves deeply embedded within it, yet wildly estranged from it. This project examines the absurdity of our interactions with the natural world, where we transform it into something consumable, controllable, and ultimately disposable.

We maintain the illusion of connection by integrating nature into our lives and spaces in ways that often lack authenticity. Our attempts to engage with the natural world can feel superficial, as we create curated experiences and aesthetic representations that mask a growing disconnection. This phenomenon reflects a broader cultural tendency to commodify nature, where our connection points with nature are increasingly through consumable products and commercialized activities, rather than through authentic engagement with the environment.

Meanwhile, the reality we often ignore is dire: we are witnessing the rapid degradation of our natural world due to man-made climate change, with ecosystems being wiped out and biodiversity in decline. The exploitation of nature is a systemic issue, where profit motives drive unsustainable practices: deforestation, pollution, and resource extraction all contribute to the erosion of the environment.

Uncanny Valley documents the surreal condition of our relationship with nature, capturing the dissonance between the world we have shaped and the reality we have alienated. This project does not yearn for a simplistic return to nature. Rather, it acknowledges the tension between the nature we construct and the one we commodify, a nature that, despite its artifice, we desperately cling to.

Justus Lemm is part of Issue 17 by Guest Editor Torbjørn Rødland.

Check out his Artist Feature Lithics.