GMU:Artists Lab:Zhen Qin

Interactive Botanic art

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.

• An botanic installations, show reaction to people's movement.
• Focused on to amplify the relation between human and nature.
• Approach :physical installations that sense the participants and create reactions.

As each participant come closer to the plants, their movement are sensed and cause minor impact on the movements of these plants, hopefully creating the feeling that there is life inside this botanic installations and they are breathing、trembling or rotating because of sensing the participants, like they are telling a story. By using natural plants and create a botanic installation, the intended outcome is

• a mechanism to control the plants and have them connected with fabric.
• using multiple sensors to detect participant's movements
• present minor reactions to participants.

What kind of story will the participants feel from them?

Further links: Anya Gallaccio preserve ‘beauty’ http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gallaccio-preserve-beauty-t11829

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 Servo: playing the movement of open and close and this creates reaction to human. 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.

Possible Materials:

1.09 Inspiration part: 老师发的动物图 通过扭曲的动物雕塑和充满空间感和力量感的大型装置，给予人视觉冲击和思考。

路边，观察人们如何与植物互动。家里的植物，路边的爬山虎墙，植物艺术墙

1.23 /Users/LilyQin/Desktop/Screen Shot 2018-03-29 at 6.22.25 PM.png 草图part2 ： 无数草图 动态图

2.05 模型结构part：电机 绳子 细节 实验图

2.17 最终草图part3:

3.12 Arduino线路图 电路细节

3.25 实物展示图 交互情景详解 视频 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.

Will the participant feel in connection with the plants, feel like "it" is breathing, observing, carefully using its branches exploring, or even trying to communicating with the participants, in its point of view:strangers？ What does it feel like? When you get closer, when you have to keep quiet to make it "calm" and then that's so quiet that you can hear yourself breathing... Closer, together? And when you are completely surrounded by these green live plants, no distance to the leaves，will it feels like you are together？

This is a plant that spins alone Rotating Getting close/ pausing/ thinking Closer/ Trembling/ Attempt to deterring from approaching Retreat- Stretching and Relax Get close- Moving up and down /shrinking Stay- more and more relax

- get in harmony...  stretching the branch like gentle touch 

Closer, together?

what does it feels when in extremely quiet and surrounded by plants? 

Moving up and down

Is that a threaten?  What will plants do if they really can move like animal?

3.29 总结，更多想做的 观察更多人们与植物的互动画面，换各种不同的主题来模拟和放大相应的场景，形成对比和反差。