Maria Kuptsova

reGENERATION is a research project investigating the state of our urbansphere by decoding data on local water pollution into the form of synthetic sculptures. Integrating digital and material forms of computation, the project explores new aesthetics programmed by digital, chemical and biological processes.

Water, as a crucial element in all ecological, biological and anthropogenic processes, acts as a key indicator of environmental conditions. However, human interference, industrial activities, and militarised landscapes continue to deteriorate aquatic ecosystems globally. The project reGENERATION addresses the need for regeneration—the renewal of our relationship with the environment—focusing on urban aquatic ecosystems.

The synthetic sculptures are grown through the Biorock™ process, a method developed by Wolf H. Hilbertz to restore marine habitats. Through electrolysis in locally sourced water, crystal structures form over metal substrates, creating objects whose morphology, resolution, colour and porosity are directly programmed by the chemical composition of the water. Each piece becomes a bio-synthetic artefact, embodying the unique ecological conditions of a particular site. These are not idealised forms but aesthetics shaped by disruption—each object holding ecological agency.

PETRA is one of the synthetic sculptures developed within the reGENERATION project. Originally exhibited in St Petersburg, PETRA’s form was programmed by the contaminated waters of the Baltic Sea and the river Neva, marked by industrial waste, postwar debris, and chemical pollutants. The sculpture decoded this dataset into a crystal formation, tracing the long-term ecological trauma of the site.

In its current iteration, PETRA is recontextualised in a new location, continuing the same logic of site-specific environmental study. It examines the chemical and biological traces present in a different water body, shaping a new morphology through electrolysis. While following the same logic of form-programming through matter, this version of PETRA appears in morphological dialogue with ARBOR.Aer—a suspended spatial structure exhibited alongside it. Together, they form a relational ecosystem of ground and air, substance and suspension, investigating how local conditions shape the formation of space and matter. PETRA becomes both a material witness and a synthetic organism—growing through pollution, learning through water, and responding to the urgency of regeneration.

Artists: Maria Kuptsova, Marina Muzyka

Project team: Gleb Andreev