PLANT BLINDNESS

 

( 2018

Interactive installation

200 x 35 x 35 cm

plant ( Ficus elastica robusta ), RGB reflector, Arduino microcontroller, medical electrodes, wooden construction, neon lamp )

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Plant blindness is a term that was introduced in 1998 by James Wandersee and Elizabeth Schussler.

They define plant blindness as “the inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment”.

Despite being completely codependent with the plant world, almost simbioticaly, we still take them and the planet that we live on for granted. Plants „ see“, communicate, adapt, memorize, breathe, move, exchange information in a way that is different yet so similar to ours.

The interactive installation serves as a mediator in communication between humans and plants. The plant ( Ficus elastica robusta, a common decorative house plant ) is connected through electrodes to an Arduino and RGB reflectors. The Arduino measures micro changes in the electrical potential of the plant and shows these changes as changes in the color of the light in the room. In this way the plant immediate reaction is seen when it is touched.

The intent is to create greater awareness and sensibility for herbal and "non-human" life of which we have little knowing because the research on these fields is largely commercially oriented. To encourage thinking about a world that is less anthropocentric.

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Technical coworker: Igor Brkić