In the last two decades, the field of Artificial-Life Art (A-Life Art) has addressed new approaches to creating art based on the synthesis of life-like phenomena. At the same time, there has been increasing interest and experimentation in creating immersive environments as virtual worlds or "worldmaking".

As a combination of both, this dissertation proposes the name "artificial natures" to describe a novel form of installation art: computational artworks of complex systems creating worlds with their own physics and biology, within immersive, interactive environments. It constructs nature-like aesthetic experiences using the mechanisms and evolutionary processes of life in order to express generative creativity and emergent beauty.

The motivation is to construct an aesthetic unity in which art, science, play, and life integrate into a single fulfilled experience akin to childhood memories of playing in nature; ludic investigation considered as an infinite game. As a contemporary art practice, it is not based on a refutation of past art practice but on free production and expression of our current and future times. Choosing an holistic approach, this research is a reciprocal engagement of concept, theory, and art practice based on a trans-disciplinary implementation, seeking a reconciliation between subjective beauty (artificial) and objective truth (nature).

The thesis documents a theoretical approach to artificial natures as a general form of art, and the researching and production of a series of Artificial Nature artworks as a vehicle by which to critically and practically examine its requirements, key concepts, challenges, techniques, and opportunities.