Can locust swarms destroy concrete jungles? (2025)

is a 14-minute video loop combining digitally generated imagery with real footage shot in Brussels. The video begins with a seemingly simple, almost absurd question: can locusts destroy a concrete jungle? We know that locust swarms can devastate entire ecosystems, but here the “jungle” is not a landscape of vegetation, but one of concrete and infrastructure.

The video unfolds as a conversation between two entities exploring whether locusts could ever threaten an actual “concrete jungle.” Their exchange gradually drifts into the realm of science fiction, touching on the possibility of locusts being repurposed or weaponized. These speculations echo real-world dilemmas and ethical questions surrounding humanity’s attempts to reshape, control, and instrumentalize nature.

As the dialogue continues, the chain of questions and speculative answers spirals into a kind of madness. Ultimately, the video reflects on nature versus the synthetic, creation versus destruction, and the increasingly blurred boundaries between them as humanity continues to evolve.

I started with recordings of my own voice, creating the text and vocal material, and then processed these recordings through machine-learning-based voice transformations. The resulting variations formed a small cast of voices, whose dynamic conversation became the foundation for the video’s structure.

It was also an exercise in association. In some way, all the words projected on screen stand on their own. I am interested in how viewers might connect them to other words within the video and perhaps to other ideas and associations in their own minds.

Trailer