Black Goo interlaces diverse interpretations of cutting-edge materials development, speculative philosophy, the role of oil in human history and the technical realization of behavioural matter. The project draws on Reza Negarestani's idea of sentient oil, using it as a metaphor to reflect on the cultural and economic tragedies tied to the relentless pursuit of development. In this context, Mexico’s role in the global oil industry becomes a focal point, illustrating how the extraction of resources shapes not just economies but the fabric of a cultural mindset. The project invites us to question the nature of progress—what it demands, what it erases—and how deeply our futures are tied to these dark buried forces.

At the same time, Black Goo turns to the concept of computronium, a hypothetical substrate a matter saturated structurally of spatial and purpose-awareness, as a way to explore the future potential of intelligence within matter itself. Through Navier-Stokes fluid dynamics simulations and allegorical visual work, the project ties together sci-fi visions of "black goo" as a mysterious, often threatening presence, alongside gnostic myths of the Archons, entities that are cosmic rulers, frequently portrayed as captors who confine humanity.

Merging computational fluid simulations with hand-drawn visuals and motion graphics, the work connects programmable matter's frontier developments to science fiction's darker imaginings, examining strange byways of industrial research and their unexpected offshoots.

Programming, fluid computer simulations, 3D modeling, speculative design , research