BioLogic_Tommasi_Detail0

Biological Instrumentation is a time-based spatial installation that combines organic and computational processes. The viewer is confronted with a hanging garden of mimosa plants - each connected by a series of tubes to an air compressor. The plants are wired with audio speakers, light sensors and other electronic equipment. Algorithmically driven to force compressed air onto the leaves of the plant - this digital stimulation forces their contraction. After 15 minutes the mimosa plants open their leaves again, which triggers sound signals from the audio speakers that float next to the plants. The generated sound signals gradually increase in volume and intensity, culminating with the forced air being released onto the plants again. This work explores the poetics involved in creating new relationships between machines and plant life. The installation invites the viewer to walk through a spatialized sound environment and observe the machine/plant interaction. Driven constantly by the machines' algorithmic program the plant receives stimulation without regard to its condition.
www.siggraph.org/s2009/galleries_experiences/biologic_art...