GMU:Artists Lab:Zhen Qin: Difference between revisions

Description of idea :Just as you become accustomed to the equipment around you, and just as you’re able to make something momentarily perfect out of it, the seasons change, you grow some more, and the cycle starts again. It’s a beautiful process, and how to capture this momentary beauty, to create some thinking out of it, to give people some feeling about it.

preserve ‘beauty’ is an installation work composed of bright red flowers arranged in four adjacent rectangular compositions underneath large panes of clear glass. The flowers are presented in a single layer with their heads facing out towards the viewer, and their stalks are positioned downwards, so that the lower edge of each panel features a band of green made up of the stems of the bottom row of flowers. The type of flower used in the installation is a hybrid between a gerbera and a daisy that is known by the name ‘beauty’. During the period in which preserve ‘beauty’ is displayed, the flowers wither and die, and this decay process is visible to viewers through the glass. Due to the shrinkage of the flowers as they rot, the glass panels require adjustment over the period of display, and the dead flowers often fall out of the glass and decompose further on the floor. Viewers experience the installation through their sense of smell, as well as visually: they encounter either the smell of the flowers when they are fresh or their rotting odour as they decay, depending on the amount of time that has lapsed since the work was put on display.

Use the natural shape of plants to convey the feelings.

Progress:

Currently I am still at the stage of experimenting arduino kits, the ideas are:

Ultrasonic sensor: Detecting on visitors‘ distance from 10cm- 100cm

Sound sensor:Detecting noises and send signals to the motor.

The following picture shows some code to motivate the servo, there may need more servos in the following steps to create better movements.  

The attempt is to do some experiments with bio material , see if we combining mechanism with plants branches, would the outcome be to any extend exciting, or would it seems like human communicating to plants.

The scale is well considered, it should be approximately as human scales. So it’s a problem to control such big installation.

After several times trying to build the model.

[[File:bioIMG_0959.JPG|800px]]

[[File:bioIMG_0963.JPG|400px]]

Below: The Code for controlling the motor's speed and direction, via the ultrasonic sensor. The sensor outputs a range of distance values, and by continuously detecting the distance it can predict the mode of visitor's movement.

    

  void motospd(int sp1,int sp2) //电机速度控制函数。括号内分别为左右电机速度值，

   }                 

   Serial.println(SNUM[2]);

  delay(50);}

  long microsecondsToCentimeters(long microseconds) {

   return microseconds / 29 / 2;

As each sensor controls one component, their branches movement are connected via the Plastic rope to the other components, hopefully creating the feeling that there is only one mechanical 'life' feels and reacts to the move of participants.

And when you are completely surrounded by these green live plants, no distance to the leaves，will it feels like you are together？

[[File:bota-9.jpg|400px]][[File:bota-10.jpeg|400px]]

More can do:

1,Observe more how people interact with plants.

2,Build and improve motor mechanism.

3,Find another materials to connect with motor and tests. Consider how this helps build the relation between users and plants.