[-empyre-] June on empyre now open for discussion!

[Ricky Ray]

Hi Jo,

I find the project quite interesting, and potentially valuable in the sense
of expanding awareness of, or at least drawing attention to plant-to-plant,
plant-to-human, and plant-to-world (and vice versa) communication,
response, mutuality. I wonder about the traumatic aspects though, in
particular the decision to inflict, the experience of inflicting and
spending so much time around the plants after inflicting, and the future
for the plants, now that you've engaged with their paths.

Would you mind sharing your thinking around the trauma? Questions you may
have asked yourself and worked through; asked the plants and tried to hear,
etc.?

And likewise, what future do you envision for them, or at least your
involvement with them?

Thanks,

Ricky

On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 8:25 PM, jsa <jo.simalaya at gmail.com> wrote:

> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>
> Happy June, everyone!  Thanks for starting off the discussion.  My
> apologies for joining later in the week.
>
> I am an interdisciplinary artist who works with community stories,
> interactive installations and soundscapes.  My ongoing project, "Singing
> Plants Reconstruct Memory" involves three living banana leaf plants.  I
> grew up in the Philippines and I remember these plants as towering over me
> in my Lola's garden.  The ones I use in the installation are about 3" tall
> and housed in individual pots.
>
> The three plants can represent the traditional Western narrative of a
> story: the beginning, middle, and ending.  They are also holders of
> cultural and body memory.
>
> Each plant has ruptures in the leaves created by a metal bottlecap to
> represent "soul wounds" or missing parts of the narrative. Much of
> Philippine history has been written by colonizers.  I am interested in
> revisiting family and community stories as as step towards decolonization
> and reindigenization.
>
> In my installation, I suture the leaves with conductive thread that is
> connected to an electronic grid with touch sensors.
>
> When people reach out towards the plants, the electricity in our bodies
> trigger the sensors and the plants sing, tell a story, or project images.
>
> The living plants act as in intermediary between the human being and the
> technology.  This has generated some interesting results:
>
> 1. The plants seem sensitive different people's energy.  Some people need
> to actually touch the plant to make a connection; some can just hover above
> the plant; some can just enter the room and the plants immediately start to
> sing.
>
> 2. There have been times when no people are present and the plants trigger
> each other to sing. This seems to indicate an ongoing "communication"
> between plants that the sensors make "audible" to people.
>
> 3. The code I've written for the electronic grid is simple: touch = ON,
> release = OFF.  However, the plants sometimes reverse the code.  They may
> spontaneously start singing without pause, and require touch to stop.
> Perhaps this is a way to draw people's attention?
>
> 4. When I water the plants with the sensors attached.  They all sing.  I
> sing back.  It feels like a mutual exchange.
>
> That is just a short introduction to my project and some observations.
> Thank you for posting questions for us.  I will respond soon.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jo
>
> Jo SiMalaya Alcampo
>
> josimalaya.com
>
>
>
> *UPCOMING:*
>
> *Subtle Technologies Conference
> <http://subtletechnologies.com/festival/festival-2015/>*
>
> Sun May 31, 10AM-12PM, Panel Discussion at Artscape Youngplace
>
>
>
> *LIFT OFF! Festival at Cahoots Theatre*
>
> Fri June 19, 8 PM: free public reading of Hilot Means Healer
>
> Sun Jun 21, 7 pm: Storytelling event, "Shaken Roots"
>
>
>
> Asinabka Indigenous Arts Festival
> <http://www.asinabkafestival.org/Home.html>
>
> August 19 - 23, Exhibition at Gallery 101, Ottawa
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
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