Tonóg Chladaigh explores regionally extinct Irish water species through a post-internet lens during a time of climate crisis. Through an interactive map of Dublin, the public is invited to discover sculptural glitches into the digital realm.
This public intervention explores Ireland’s diminishing coastal wildlife through an interactive scavenger hunt across selected locations of the Beta Festival’s exhibitions.
At each location, participants will find 3D-rendered recreations of regionally extinct water plants in the form of hybridised organic and digital 3D-printed sculptures. Among the lost species that inspired these works is the sea stock or Tonóg Chladaigh.
Combining PLA and water-based bioplastics to create these ambiguous unearthly beings, the artist explores the tension between the physical and digital realm, where vanished species evolve only in data. This expanded installation is hidden in plain sight, easily overlooked by passersby.
This wider research project explores ecology as an anti-colonial tool. The artist reexamines the archive, created by the upper class who viewed nature as something outside of themselves. Murphy works at conserving indigenous traditions in Ireland by reimagining the land’s interconnectedness with language and nature.
Mollie Mia Murphy is a Berlin-based Irish visual artist working across 3D-rendered video, live interactive visuals, and 3D-printed installations. Her work explores the long-term effects of historical colonialism on Ireland’s ecological and economic landscape through technology.
Murphy recontextuallises historical archives using contemporary media through re-imagining in-depth collaborations with The National History Museum, The National Folklore Collection and The National Botanic Gardens.
Playing with the tension between reality and myth in Irish folklore, her practice presents digital portals that pour into our reality in the form of 3D printed installation. Her work seeks to create an ambiguous hybridised digital and organic landscape in both physical and cyber space.
Recent works include Thank God We’re Surrounded by Water by Ciúnas, at The Dublin Fringe Festival 2025 and Synthetic Artefacts in The Complex. In 2025, she made her international debut in group shows at The Green Hill Gallery and New Fears Gallery.
Image credit: Mollie Mia Murphy
