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Invasive species and musical fish: Inside the world of 'Deep Lake Future'

WUWM 89.7 FM | By Sam Woods

Published August 16, 2023 at 2:59 PM CDT

Giant black and white zebra mussels in the mid-ground, seaweed with pink fluorescent buds in the foreground. Overall lighting is purple and blue. — "Deep Lake Future" imagines a world invaded by giant zebra mussels and other invasive species, with a little creative license from 25 Milwaukee-area artists.

Imagine a world overrun with invasive species from the Great Lakes. Now imagine that world with a little creative license from 25 Milwaukee-area artists.

We’re talking giant zebra mussels, radioactive seaweed and fish that double as musical instruments.

FuzzPop Workshop brings this world to life through "Deep Lake Future," an immersive art experience going on now at Var Gallery in Walker’s Point in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this world they’ve created, your mission is to collect data to study invasive species, while also playing synthesizer sturgeons and making rainbow shadow puppets.

Deep Lake Future's decontamination process — Before entering "Deep Lake Future," guest scientists (that's you) go through a decontamination process in a separate room.

FuzzPop Workshop founder and creative director Daniel Murray describes the exhibit as a cross between multiple influences.

“It’s kind of like 'Beyond Van Gogh' meets Streets of Old Milwaukee meets Alice in Wonderland,” Murray says. "... You walk through this world that we've created. But it's more than stepping onto a movie set. You get to be part of the action. You're part of the story. You get to make music, you get to paint."

"Deep Lake Future" is a world filled with radioactive species like these giant zebra mussels and pink sentient seaweed, with the world's god Mollach looming in the background.