Text/Research Cycle
Kłlilx’w Diver
Prompted by the disquiet around the overpopulation of Canadian Geese and a municipal law advocating lethal removal as a control measure, I embarked on a speculative journey to the mineral-rich enigmatic Kłlilx’w Lake. Through a short speculative narrative, I envisioned a species characterized not by longevity, but by its evanescent existence and luminous legacy encased in amber fossils. Could genetically modified species, and their subsequent commodification, serve as a more harmonious alternative to human efforts in controlling nature's reproduction? This narrative acts as a precursor to a broader inquiry, exploring the complex interplay of our human pursuits, desires, and the confrontations we face with both nature and technology.
Digital rendering of a rapid-fossilized Kłlilx’w Diver (a fictional genetically engineered Canada Goose variant), with skull fracture depicted.
Geese overpopulation in Metro Vancouver, Spring 2023, leaves the park lake's vegetation delicately wrapped in a blanket of geese down.
A distinct species have been discovered in the vicinity of a mineral-rich lake known as Kłlilx’w - the “spotted lake”. The natives believe the peculiarity of its crater-like appearance was once created by the solar shadows from an epoch when the Earth was a gigantic ball of swirling slush.
This species is characterized by its missile-like physique - a skull of exceptional density, vestigal wings the size of a sunflower seed and webbed feet with the middle digits attached. A bulk of the studies of this variant come from the research of its remnant due to its brief life span - ranging between a few seconds to less than an hour.
Unlike most of its genus, it hatches during the dry season of the year, when the striking chalky white and rust-orange ovals surface the lake, layered with calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sulphates. It’s during this time that the gander from a closely related species assumes the role of caregiver. In the final stages of incubation, the male goose ascends above the lake as high as seven to eight kilometres, suspending the egg in the air until it cracks open. Oozing out of a rush of gunk, the newborn plummets headfirst into the lake's recessed water line, reaching its cryptic bottom and entirely submerged within seconds. The swift burial combined with the lake’s mineral-rich strata, expedites the process of self-fossilization. Within eight to ten months, the creature’s body petrifies, transforming into a luminescent amber coloured relic roughly the size of a child’s fist.
The fossils of these self-sacrificial creatures are revered and believed to possess abilities to appease the restless spirits of the slaughtered animals. It is widely thought they guide these spirits colliding upon one another to the Kuiper Belt, a circlet aureole in the outer solar system teeming with small bodies of frozen volatiles. The scattered dust, debris and stellar remnants are drawn to the wandering spirit upon its arrival, gradually amassing around their energy cores to grow new celestial entities.
Since their initial appearance, the fossils of the Kłlilx’w Diver have transformed into a highly coveted crypto commodity. This valuable asset is clandestinely exchanged among a diverse network that spans across societal and professional boundaries. Shamans, slaughterhouse employees, soldiers from war zones, members of the mafia, law enforcement officials, politicians, animal welfare advocates, and members of unacknowledged religious groups all participate in this decentralized marketplace. This phenomenon has also given rise to a new breed of amateur astrologists who have turned their gaze toward the distant Kuiper Belt. The promise of witnessing the formation of celestial entities, born from the guiding force of the Diver fossils, fuels their fervent competition. In the Kłlilx’w region, a tradition has evolved amongst the local children who seek out the Diver fossils buried in the lake bed in the Long Night of Easter.
Imagine a civilization - the worth of its genetic sequence is not simply preserved but reconfigured and suspended in the silos of time. Awaiting a tomorrow that yet clings to the edge of uncertainty, a limbo oscillating between cancellation and affirmation. To resurrect a state of being from vitrification. Isn't it a testament to life's innate capacity to persist, to list, to lust?
This species is characterized by its missile-like physique - a skull of exceptional density, vestigal wings the size of a sunflower seed and webbed feet with the middle digits attached. A bulk of the studies of this variant come from the research of its remnant due to its brief life span - ranging between a few seconds to less than an hour.
Unlike most of its genus, it hatches during the dry season of the year, when the striking chalky white and rust-orange ovals surface the lake, layered with calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sulphates. It’s during this time that the gander from a closely related species assumes the role of caregiver. In the final stages of incubation, the male goose ascends above the lake as high as seven to eight kilometres, suspending the egg in the air until it cracks open. Oozing out of a rush of gunk, the newborn plummets headfirst into the lake's recessed water line, reaching its cryptic bottom and entirely submerged within seconds. The swift burial combined with the lake’s mineral-rich strata, expedites the process of self-fossilization. Within eight to ten months, the creature’s body petrifies, transforming into a luminescent amber coloured relic roughly the size of a child’s fist.
The fossils of these self-sacrificial creatures are revered and believed to possess abilities to appease the restless spirits of the slaughtered animals. It is widely thought they guide these spirits colliding upon one another to the Kuiper Belt, a circlet aureole in the outer solar system teeming with small bodies of frozen volatiles. The scattered dust, debris and stellar remnants are drawn to the wandering spirit upon its arrival, gradually amassing around their energy cores to grow new celestial entities.
Since their initial appearance, the fossils of the Kłlilx’w Diver have transformed into a highly coveted crypto commodity. This valuable asset is clandestinely exchanged among a diverse network that spans across societal and professional boundaries. Shamans, slaughterhouse employees, soldiers from war zones, members of the mafia, law enforcement officials, politicians, animal welfare advocates, and members of unacknowledged religious groups all participate in this decentralized marketplace. This phenomenon has also given rise to a new breed of amateur astrologists who have turned their gaze toward the distant Kuiper Belt. The promise of witnessing the formation of celestial entities, born from the guiding force of the Diver fossils, fuels their fervent competition. In the Kłlilx’w region, a tradition has evolved amongst the local children who seek out the Diver fossils buried in the lake bed in the Long Night of Easter.
Imagine a civilization - the worth of its genetic sequence is not simply preserved but reconfigured and suspended in the silos of time. Awaiting a tomorrow that yet clings to the edge of uncertainty, a limbo oscillating between cancellation and affirmation. To resurrect a state of being from vitrification. Isn't it a testament to life's innate capacity to persist, to list, to lust?
Digital rendering of Dzunukwa, a fictional Kuiper Belt Object, formed as the Kłlilx’w Diver Fossil shepherds slaughtered animal souls to outer space. These souls converge with icy volatiles, creating an energy nexus in the cold cosmic expanse.
Spotted Lake (Kłlilx’w Lake)
Osoyoos, British Columbia
Google Maps image captured by
Osoyoos, British Columbia
Google Maps image captured by
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