Set in the fallout of a recent climate catastrophe in Southeast Texas, Taming the Lightning is walk-through immersive installation that blends organic and technological elements into an environment that responds dynamically to the presence of humans, as an organism would. The project's title references an anonymous Silicon Valley quote about harnessing forces of nature to create artificial intelligence:

"We have tamed lightning and used it to teach sand to think." 

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Taming the Lightning seeks to challenge this notion of human dominance over nature by examining the illusory boundaries we construct between ourselves and the living world of which we are an integral part. 

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Audience participants are given the opportunity to explore, contemplate, and weave together their own stories. Bizarre characters cycle in and out, activating the space: a hurricane survivor named Camila searching for family photos, a janitor named C. Haron who ferries discarded tech to its final resting place and sings passionate operatic duets with an electrode-connected Corpse Flower, a clarinet-playing sprite in sound-reactive fiber optic garments transforms the space around the audience. Over 500 live plants are illuminated with motion-tracked video projections, macro video of rare flora surround the space, motion-reactive sculptures allow audience members to get a closer look at carnivorous plants, a spatial sound system creates soundscapes  that waft enigmatically across the room, and extended reality headsets enable participants to place themselves inside a massive grove of giant sequoia trees. 

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Taming the Lightning was created by David Adam Moore and Vita Tzykun through the endowed Granada Artist Residency at University of California Davis Department of Theater and Dance. It was made possible via collaboration with the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, UC Davis Arboretum, and the Departments of Plant Sciences, Music, Design, and Cinema & Digital Media.