Vanguard I
2014 / steel, custom electronics, houseplant
This project, named after the Vanguard I satellite, is a 2’ x 2’ x 2’ hermetic growth chamber for a single houseplant. Its water and sunlight are regulated by a microcontroller which also checks to see if the plant is alive up to 1,000 times a second and returns one of two binary statements:
"I’M OKAY"
or
"I’M NOT OKAY"
The response is based on whether the plant within the box is alive or dead.
It was shown at the John Sommers Gallery in Albuquerque, NM as part of a two-person show with Julianne Aguilar.
Vanguard I was accompanied by this video: