The work presents the notes of a fictional scientific team investigating the mystery of the
synchronous flashing of firefly swarms – a secret communication channel of this species. This
behavior remains unresolved: despite new imaging technologies (such as 3D scanning of swarms in
space), scientific research has not been able to convincingly explain its evolutionary significance.
Why, then, do fireflies synchronize?
Perhaps, however, we should ask differently: why are we unable to decipher the reason why fireflies
synchronize? The critical flicker fusion threshold (CFF) differs across animal species depending on
body size, and therefore on the perception of time. The short flashes of fireflies’ light organs may
resemble binary computational logic to the human eye, yet at the same time they may carry complex
information that exceeds our perceptual capacities. Contemporary research into the different
perceptions of time and light among humans and other organisms only emphasizes the mysteries
that remain hidden from humankind.
The project is inspired by the fictional discipline of terolinguistics (first mentioned by Ursula Le Guin
in 1974), which explores and translates communicative traces of nonhuman beings. The mind map
draws on the aesthetics of 3D digital environments, intertwining elements of speculative fabulation
with references to scientific research, and seeks to contribute to the search for forms of sensitivity
toward nonhuman beings and otherness.²

*At present, it can no longer be excluded that (some) animals or plants possess means of
communication, symbolic thinking, or more complex expressive abilities. (…) It is therefore entirely
possible that in the not-too-distant future the balance between speculative fabulation and scientific
knowledge will radically shift. A transformation in knowledge, consciousness, and the orientation of
technology will occur, enabling us to cultivate a utopian sensibility of planetary dimensions and to
reconfigure our communities.*³

The work was created in connection with a short 3D animated film of the same title Branching Light
and Flashes of Dawn (2024).

¹ Denis Kozerawski, curatorial text for the Oskar Čepan Award 2024
² Vinciane Despret, Autobiography of an Octopus, Utopia Libri, 2024
³ Vinciane Despret, Autobiography of an Octopus, Utopia Libri, 2024