ART GAME: HENRY DRIVER'S SECRETS OF SOILS (2021)
Henry Driver is a prolific new media artist from the United Kingdom often incorporating game mechanics and aesthetics in his practice. His latest project is an interactive artwork/game commissioned by the BBC titled Secrets of Soil, which was supported by the leading Plant Science and Microbiology Researchers at the John Innes Centre, UK. According to Driver, the game "was inspired by his family's attempts to make their farming practices carbon negative.". Specifically,
Secrets of Soil is an interactive journey that explores the hidden world of soil and its role in combating climate change. Your journey will take you to a microscopic world, witnessing the essential life forms that live there. Explore the microscopic landscape to understand the many citizens of the soil and the essential roles they play in this diverse ecosystem. Witness how bacteria and plants speak to each other. Glide through vast fungal webs. Create earthworm burrows. Or simply relax and linger in dazzling soilscapes and explore this unseen world. Unearth the secret of how this hidden universe could help save us from climate disaster.
Driver's goal is to raise "awareness to the change that we can all be a part of when thinking about the world we live in." Secrets of Soil is freely available for Windows platforms on Steam as a short interactive experience, with a free 360-degree video version which will run on nearly any device on the market. The project was commissioned as part of New Creatives, a project from Arts Council England and the BBC, which champions emerging new talent. Production took place between the months of August 2020 and April 2021. Driver was responsible for the Design, Coding, Sound. His collaborators include Collusion (Production Partner), Rachel Drury and Rich Hall (Producers), Lynsey Murrell (Narration), Sam Snape (Script Editor), Peter Richardson (Executive Producer), Joseph Amoah (Executive Producer for BBC R&D), and Jo Nolan (Programme Producer New Creatives Screen South). Henry driver's work has been exhibited around the world. Selected cities include Berlin, Copenhagen, Montreal, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Seoul, Yokohama, and Taipei. In the United Kingdom, Driver's installations were presented at Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Barbican and The Whitechapel Gallery. He was selected by leading curators as one of the top fifteen residence at Cressing Temple Barns, and asked to create a permanent artwork. Secrets of Soil is also featured on the BBC website.