Black Shoals is an artificial ecosystem linked to the real time dynamics of the stock market.
Stars representing companies and creatures representing speculators are projected into a domed ceiling in a dark room, creating an artificial night sky which visualises the dynamics of the world stock markets.
Consequently, changes in trading patterns can be seen in the planetarium as explosions of life surrounding specific clusters of stars.
For this project, Cefn Hoile designed a population of articulated creatures which reproduce and evolve both their morphology and behaviour in real time in a planetarium style display.
Tom Riley was the lead software developer during the second showing of Black Shoals in 2004.