Epiphyte
Plant, custom electronics, laser cut acrylic, grow lights, Unreal Engine 5
Epiphyte is a system for plant dream interpretation. It utilizes bioelectrical signals gathered from plants to drive a live generated visualization in Unreal Engine 5.
In the center of the installation is a plant connected to a microcontroller inside of a sculptural greenhouse. Every two minutes the visualization resets and uses data gathered from the plant to create a new composition. The visuals themselves are my ideas of what plant dream archetypes might be. There are a large number of assets the plant can choose from, creating a unique world every time it resets.
Some examples can be seen in the video below:
Epiphyte explores themes of human-nonhuman communication, climate catastrophe, and dreams. Questions I’m asking in this project include: How can an encounter with the interior lives of plants change our relationship to them? How can we transform technology to incorporate nonhuman lifeforms? What does a world look like when plants are allowed to actively transform it?
In 2023 I was one of four artists selected by the City of Albuquerque to participate in a ten week, full time Internet of Things Bootcamp backed by the Central New Mexico Community College. The outcome of this program was for the artists to use the skills from the bootcamp to develop temporary public artwork for the city's Rail Trail, a pedestrian and bicycle trail currently being developed along an active rail corridor through downtown Albuquerque.
You can find more details of the original prototype created for the City of Albuquerque's Temporary Tech Art Rail Trail Development Grant here.