What if we can see and hear what plants talk about? What if we can pick up their inaudible whispers – the signals, and make them audiovisual? By using the latest sensor technologies, Organic Cinema by World Wilder Web (Kasia Molga, Erik Overmeire, Ivan Henriques) explores how local flora and fauna respond to their immediate environment. We will give them a voice!
Plants, bacteria and millions of other living entities surround us all the time and are vital to our well being – and they were the participants of this project. The main actors in Helsinki’s green installation were the Ostrich fern, the Raspberry, and the Ladies’ mantle.
Organic Cinema engages with the plants via a set of open source/hardware sensory devices which take data measurements from the action and variation potentials of the plants: electrical activities from within the cells of the plants in response to different spectral colours of the ambient light. The data will be interpreted in real time into visualisations which are presented on the urban screens at Media Facades – allowing audiences and passers-by to look at plants from a different viewpoint and discover their hidden lives.
Organic Cinema installation was shown at Lasipalatsi Square, 21.8.-24.8.2014. The collaborative workshop was organized at the Lasipalatsi Urban workshop, 18.-19.8.2014
World Wilder Lab is an artist group sharing the passion for environment, nature, living organisms, technology, data, science and most importantly combining all of this in artistic medium. As a group, World Wilder Lab is interested in using technologies as an extension of human senses rather than their replacement.
Organic Cinema is co-produced by World Wilder Lab for the Connecting Cities program 2014 with m-cult, Helsinki and Medialab-Prado, Madrid. Besides Helsinki, the project will be presented in Madrid and Liverpool.
Plant boxes for the installation designed by Jelle van der Beek / Puuguru. Plant design Minna Tarkka. The Organic Cinema workshop was realized in collaboration with Helsinki City Library's Urban Workshop. Thanks to all participants for your input!
The project has been supported by the Creative Industries fund NL.
