Leo Castañeda: Camoflux Recall Grotto

Commissioned for the 2026 edition of the Whitney Biennial, Leo Castañeda’s Camoflux Recall Grotto is a web-based game that prompts players to cultivate a garden in a primordial landscape. Inspired by the Brazilian Amazon forest and South Florida Everglades—as well as works by Colombian artists Maria Thereza Negreiros, Ever Astudillo, and Alfonso Quijano—Camoflux Recall Grotto challenges traditional gameplay. It resists the typical patterns of rapid progression, simulating a meditative, cozy loop when there are few seeds to cultivate and speeding up when the organisms multiply beyond sustainability. Assuming the perspective of an organic drone, the player traverses the surreal environment collecting “liquid turbulence” (water) and “electromagnetic intensity” (sunlight) to nourish what the artist calls “cyberflora,” otherworldly seedlings that sporadically sprout and reveal holographic memories from past and future worlds. The virtual grotto interweaves the organic and cybernetic, planting questions about growth mechanisms in a world dominated by technology.Whitney Biennial 2026 is organized by Marcela Guerrero, DeMartini Family Curator, and Drew Sawyer, Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, with Beatriz Cifuentes, Biennial Curatorial Assistant, and Carina Martinez, Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow.To play on mobile, please rotate your phone for landscape viewing.