A soft robotic research project, focusing on biophilic sensations
The world is the matter, the form, the space, and the reality of breath.
Plants are the breath of all living beings, the world as breath.
In turn, any breath is evidence of the fact that being in the world is, fundamentally, an experience of immersion.
To breathe means to be plunged into a medium that penetrates us in the same way and with the same intensity as we penetrate it.
Any being is a being of the world [mondain] if it immersed in what immerses itself in it.
The plant, then, is the paradigm of immersion. [1]
[1] “Life of Plants” - Emanuele Coccia
An experiment with chilli plant revealed the ability in which plants are aware of their surroundings.
Another study showed that Plants use Bio Acoustics to sense the presence of other plants.
The plants sound vibrations are within human range and it only occurs in the roots.
Plant to plant communication happens through mycelium as a form of nutrient. exchange like nitrogen and phosphorus, a symbiotic exchange of carbon that plant produces and fungi consumes.
If a plant gets attack by an insect a signal will be sent through mycelium to the next plant for protection. [2]
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwW9Lw2Ku4&ab_channel=WorldScienceFestival
The amorphous vase is a sensorial installation inspired by the muted elegance in nature. The piece is placed in the middle of an empty room with tall glass walls looking into a humid rainforest. The concrete ceiling has a skylight the exact size of the table providing direct sunlight for the vase’s locomotion and the plants’ photosynthesis. Ethnobotanical information about the two plants in display is played as sonic and poetic monologues. Audience is encouraged to spend more than an hour in the room. Subtle sound recordings of the two plants communication ( bio-acoustics ) is also played at a much lower volume only close to the piece. The audience will need to get on their knees and put their ears on the surface of the table to be able to hear the bio-acoustics sound and plant’s chemical exchange in the form of sound waves.
The vase is an automated system of biomaterials and inflatables that follows the sun embodying two different plants from different biomes in a very slow and organic gesture. The meditative observation of this movement evokes biophilic sensations in an attempt to break the plants life passiveness. The vase and the plants become one united body of biomass. The container and the contained become inseparable.
The gentle and sensual movements of the vase is directed towards the sunlight. But this isn’t the only reason for locomotion. If two plants are placed too close to each other the vase is able to recognize their sentiments based on their chemical exchange through mycelium and would move them apart. If the nitrogen level in the soil drastically changes over time, the amorphous vase would change shape to communicate to humans the issue. Human touch is also another trigger for the subtle response in the form of movement of the vase.
3D print prototype of the amorphous vase
Found Images
Most species of caterpillar move around by inching or crawling. Their ability to navigate in branching three-dimensional structures makes them particularly interesting biomechanical subjects. Caterpillars are not obligate hydrostats but instead use their strong grip to the substrate to transmit forces, in effect using their environment as a skeleton. In addition, the gut which accounts for a substantial part of the caterpillar’s weight, moves independently of the body wall during locomotion and may contribute to crawling dynamics. Work-loop analysis of caterpillar muscles shows that they are likely to act both as actuators and energy dissipaters during crawling. Because caterpillar tissues are pseudo-elastic, and locomotion involves large body deformations, moving is energetically inefficient. Possession of a soft body benefits caterpillars by allowing them to grow quickly and to access remote food sources safely. [3]
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24405585/
Process Documentation
The physical form of the vase, embodies the inner locomotive mechanism, demonstrating the inflation and deflation system of connected inflatables inside of the vase.
Locomotion: Proof of concept
©21st Century
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