Organisms & Artefacts

This body of work questions the complexities of accessing the consciousness of another. How might we communicate with non-human organisms while being restricted by our linguistic constructs? 

The artistic research inquires into non-human communication, particularly plant, fungi, and bacterial communication. Plants use Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) signals to communicate internally and use Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) to communicate with one another through air transmitted signals. They are also able to communicate electrochemically through mycorrhizal root networks (plant x fungi symbiosis). When it comes to microorganisms, research suggests a form of collective consciousness. Biofilms and quorum sensing could be equated to a sort of bacterial hive mind/consciousness. However, the work also asks, how might we engage micro-organisms at an individual level?

If plants, fungi, and bacteria can communicate across biological kingdoms, how can humans become aware of our extended engagement with other species as holobionts? 

The series of framed prints explore the concept of cellular consciousness proposed by František Baluška. By juxtaposing images at different magnifications the work points out the difficulty with searching for consciousness through the eyes of technology. By contrast, one can see the air within the frame being sucked out as the ecosystems within vie for growth in an enclosed system.

This body of work questions the complexities of accessing the consciousness of another. How might we communicate with non-human organisms while being restricted by our linguistic constructs? 

The artistic research inquires into non-human communication, particularly plant, fungi, and bacterial communication. Plants use Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) signals to communicate internally and use Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) to communicate with one another through air transmitted signals. They are also able to communicate electrochemically through mycorrhizal root networks (plant x fungi symbiosis). When it comes to microorganisms, research suggests a form of collective consciousness. Biofilms and quorum sensing could be equated to a sort of bacterial hive mind/consciousness. However, the work also asks, how might we engage micro-organisms at an individual level?

If plants, fungi, and bacteria can communicate across biological kingdoms, how can humans become aware of our extended engagement with other species as holobionts? 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

I remember all the soap bubbles from when I was a kid. I remember the bubbles filled the sky of a neighborhood square, bursting into sweet rain drops made out of rainbows. I still make soap bubbles now, but they never look and smell the same. What makes me believe that soap bubbles could be sweet is not what it is but what I see it in my mind. 

Relics from the past are also keys to the future.

Plants have been our long-time neighbors. However, as we become more familiar with digital technology, we have grown distant from plants.

We have empathized with plants. They have been our source of food, clothing, furniture, and even shelter. Human eyes are most sensitive to green. Our bodies bear traces of plants. For plants, flowers represent the comfort and joy of life, enabling them to safely pass on their genetic legacy to the next generation in the environment they have rooted in. The reason we find flowers beautiful is that they signal an environment where humans can settle. As such, barren land where flowers cannot bloom is an inhospitable place for both plants and humans. However, for us, who are familiar with the digital world, barren land is not a concrete floor where plants cannot grow, but a world where we cannot connect to the internet. Digital technology is like a flower that symbolizes a human's habitat. But can digital technology really replace flowers? Plants, digital technology, and all other entities that are tangled up in modern society are not enemies but neighbors. Amidst the confusing and uncomfortable tangle with our neighbors, between flowers, thorns, and fruits, the author hesitates. But perhaps this hesitation is the condition of being a neighbor.

Plants have been our long-time neighbors. However, as we become more familiar with digital technology, we have grown distant from plants.

We have empathized with plants. They have been our source of food, clothing, furniture, and even shelter. Human eyes are most sensitive to green. Our bodies bear traces of plants. For plants, flowers represent the comfort and joy of life, enabling them to safely pass on their genetic legacy to the next generation in the environment they have rooted in. The reason we find flowers beautiful is that they signal an environment where humans can settle. As such, barren land where flowers cannot bloom is an inhospitable place for both plants and humans. However, for us, who are familiar with the digital world, barren land is not a concrete floor where plants cannot grow, but a world where we cannot connect to the internet. Digital technology is like a flower that symbolizes a human's habitat. But can digital technology really replace flowers? Plants, digital technology, and all other entities that are tangled up in modern society are not enemies but neighbors. Amidst the confusing and uncomfortable tangle with our neighbors, between flowers, thorns, and fruits, the author hesitates. But perhaps this hesitation is the condition of being a neighbor.

There’s something lurking in the shadows. It knows where you work. It knows where you live. It’s even gotten inside your house. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t look away. The Teratoma is back! Rising up from the oozing liquid of the Nutrient Medium, the monster mass of cells has been unleashed!

The teratoma, a cancerous mass of mixed tissues, can now be grown in the laboratory but has become a creature displaced from its context, haunting the human bodies that it no longer inhabits. Return of the Teratoma is a fictional horror series and exhibition featuring laboratory-grown Retinal Organoids made from Human Embryotic Stem Cells and laboratory-grown “teeth”. The horror film at the center of the series of works depicts CCTV footage where the “Teratoma” can be spotted haunting and lurking in the background of a macroscopic human world. 

This work was made in collaboration with Dr. Stuart Hodgetts (UWA Spinal Cord Repair Laboratory and Perron Institute), Dr. Carla Mellough (Lion’s Eye Research Institute and Perkins Research Institute, and Mark Depasquale (video producer and editor) with the support of SymbioticA and the University of Western Australia. Featuring an original soundscape by Braden Bjella.

There’s something lurking in the shadows. It knows where you work. It knows where you live. It’s even gotten inside your house. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t look away. The Teratoma is back! The monster mass of cells with teeth and hair has made it out of the human body, and it’s coming for you.

With recent advancements in science, the teratoma, a cancerous mass of mixed tissues, can now be grown in the laboratory. As a creature displaced from its context, it now haunts the human bodies that it no longer inhabits. Return of the Teratoma is a fictional horror film featuring a monster that is very real. The film’s main character, the teratoma, is a laboratory grown Retinal Organoid made from Human Embryonic Stem Cells specially fitted with laboratory grown “teeth” made from Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Adopting the visual narrative of CCTV footage, Return of the Teratoma calls into question emerging visions of the future of laboratory grown life and technology’s turbulent relationship with society and culture. Stem cells featured were obtained from the company WiCell, as well as the tissue culture laboratory facilities of the Spinal Cord Repair Lab at the University of Western Australia. 

This work was made in collaboration with Dr. Stuart Hodgetts (UWA Spinal Cord Repair Laboratory and Perron Institute), Dr. Carla Mellough (Lion’s Eye Research Institute and Perkins Research Institute), and Mark Depasquale (video producer and editor) with the support of SymbioticA Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts and the University of Western Australia. Featuring original soundscape by Braden Bjella.

A 10 minute video work featuring nine individual scenes formatted in a CCTV security layout. Each scene is in a grayscale and contains footage take from around New York City. From upper left to upper right: A scene of an alleyway shot from above; a scene of a dark bedroom with the camera angle being place above a bed and facing an open-door revealing light that is coming from down the hallway—there also appears to be a person sleeping under blanket covers on the bed; a scene of a stairwell inside of a building with lighting coming from poorly lit wall sconces and the camera angle is set at the top of the stairs. From middle left to middle right: a scene of an empty parking lot lit by one light post; a scene of a street in Brooklyn with Brooklyn styled two story houses lining the streets and cars parked along the sidewalks; a scene of an apartment living room and kitchen with a male figure sitting on the couch in the living room with his feet up on the coffee table in front of the couch. From bottom left to bottom right: a scene of a film equipment storage room with metal shelving lining the walls holding cases filled with cameras, lighting and sound equipment—two people are seen walking through the storage room; a scene of a film repair shop featuring a backwall filled with shelving full of boxes with small technical components like screws and lens caps and in the foreground is a large wooden table with equipment stored underneath—at the table is a male figure wearing a baseball cap working in front of an open black case; a scene of Broadway between Waverly Place and Washington Place in Manhattan taken from a camera angle on top 721 Broadway—below cars and taxes can been seen driving by. In each scene, a giant blobby looking figure emerges as a haunting monster called a teratoma. This figure has two retinal spots (from the retinas of the eye), two gray teeth protruding out from its body, and is surrounded by coral-like protrusions. This creature has been grown from human embryonic stem cells. Once the monstrous figure emerges, the footage cuts to static. Along with the visuals, there is a sound piece playing with the video that features the sounds of a strange radio player, the music is occasionally interrupted by messages in both English and Russia speaking of monsters.

There’s something lurking in the shadows. It knows where you work. It knows where you live. It’s even gotten inside your house. Don’t close your eyes. Don’t look away. The Teratoma is back! Rising up from the oozing liquid of the Nutrient Medium, the monster mass of cells has been unleashed!

The teratoma, a cancerous mass of mixed tissues, can now be grown in the laboratory but has become a creature displaced from its context, haunting the human bodies that it no longer inhabits. Return of the Teratoma is a fictional horror series and exhibition featuring laboratory-grown Retinal Organoids made from Human Embryotic Stem Cells and laboratory-grown “teeth”. The horror film at the center of the series of works depicts CCTV footage where the “Teratoma” can be spotted haunting and lurking in the background of a macroscopic human world. 

This work was made in collaboration with Dr. Stuart Hodgetts (UWA Spinal Cord Repair Laboratory and Perron Institute), Dr. Carla Mellough (Lion’s Eye Research Institute and Perkins Research Institute, and Mark Depasquale (video producer and editor) with the support of SymbioticA and the University of Western Australia. Featuring an original soundscape by Braden Bjella.

This multi-layered project investigates the complexities of accessing the agency of microorganisms to make decisions for themselves. The artist drafted two consent forms, translated them into binary code, and turned them into genetic code. These forms were then integrated into E.Coli cultures and paired with fluorescent proteins for tracking. The colonies accepted or rejected the consent forms, creating a conflicted circumstance of being modified while carrying a dissent form inside its DNA.

This multi-layered project investigates the complexities of accessing the agency of microorganisms to make decisions for themselves. The artist drafted two consent forms, translated them into binary code, and turned them into genetic code. These forms were then integrated into E.Coli cultures and paired with fluorescent proteins for tracking. The colonies accepted or rejected the consent forms, creating a conflicted circumstance of being modified while carrying a dissent form inside its DNA.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

New generative AI technologies can allow us to imagine new species that have been forced to adapt in order to survive. Hidden within a deep neural network, there are millions of these "ganimals" that no one has ever seen before. These ganimals occupy a digital landscape not unlike our own, where attention is short, and engagement is necessary to survive.

To withstand the harsh conditions of the attention economy, ganimals evolve very rapidly. As a result, they occupy a wide range of ecological niches and digital habitats. The data you provide about the ganimals is their "food." Using the feedback you provide, the GAN generates new ganimals by exploring both undiscovered ganimals, and the most highly rated previously discovered ganimals. Thus, by providing feedback on newly discovered species, you can help guide the evolution of future generations.

2023, HD Live Moving Image, Quadraphonic Sound, Projection, Transducers, Acrylic, Luminous Powder, White Sand, LED Strip, Infinite Duration, 137.8" x 137.8" x 78.7"

Evolution is an audio-visual installation and performance  celebrating the vitality of inorganic materials, inspired by the material’s self-organising behaviours in Cymatics. Featuring a live moving image and a quadraphonic system, it provides a digital-analog self-organising system that allows the provided luminous powder and the sonic landscape to evolve together. The audience will be taken on a journey where they are scaled down, and they will experience the vibrational environment as the powders do. 

This piece aims to present the emergence of “lifeform” in the material, and the complex interrelationship and entanglement with the sonic environment. We thus hope to provoke a new perception of non-living substances and a reconsideration of our relationship with them.

Evolution is an audio-visual installation and performance  celebrating the vitality of inorganic materials, inspired by the material’s self-organising behaviours in Cymatics. Featuring a live moving image and a quadraphonic system, it provides a digital-analog self-organising system that allows the provided luminous powder and the sonic landscape to evolve together. The audience will be taken on a journey where they are scaled down, and they will experience the vibrational environment as the powders do. 

"Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt, he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the 'Transformation of Things'."

"Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt, he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the 'Transformation of Things'."

"Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt, he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the 'Transformation of Things'."

"Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt, he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the 'Transformation of Things'."

"Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt, he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the 'Transformation of Things'."

Plants have been our long-time neighbors. However, as we become more familiar with digital technology, we have grown distant from plants.

We have empathized with plants. They have been our source of food, clothing, furniture, and even shelter. Human eyes are most sensitive to green. Our bodies bear traces of plants. For plants, flowers represent the comfort and joy of life, enabling them to safely pass on their genetic legacy to the next generation in the environment they have rooted in. The reason we find flowers beautiful is that they signal an environment where humans can settle. As such, barren land where flowers cannot bloom is an inhospitable place for both plants and humans. However, for us, who are familiar with the digital world, barren land is not a concrete floor where plants cannot grow, but a world where we cannot connect to the internet. Digital technology is like a flower that symbolizes a human's habitat. But can digital technology really replace flowers? Plants, digital technology, and all other entities that are tangled up in modern society are not enemies but neighbors. Amidst the confusing and uncomfortable tangle with our neighbors, between flowers, thorns, and fruits, the author hesitates. But perhaps this hesitation is the condition of being a neighbor.

Plants have been our long-time neighbors. However, as we become more familiar with digital technology, we have grown distant from plants.

We have empathized with plants. They have been our source of food, clothing, furniture, and even shelter. Human eyes are most sensitive to green. Our bodies bear traces of plants. For plants, flowers represent the comfort and joy of life, enabling them to safely pass on their genetic legacy to the next generation in the environment they have rooted in. The reason we find flowers beautiful is that they signal an environment where humans can settle. As such, barren land where flowers cannot bloom is an inhospitable place for both plants and humans. However, for us, who are familiar with the digital world, barren land is not a concrete floor where plants cannot grow, but a world where we cannot connect to the internet. Digital technology is like a flower that symbolizes a human's habitat. But can digital technology really replace flowers? Plants, digital technology, and all other entities that are tangled up in modern society are not enemies but neighbors. Amidst the confusing and uncomfortable tangle with our neighbors, between flowers, thorns, and fruits, the author hesitates. But perhaps this hesitation is the condition of being a neighbor.

Plants have been our long-time neighbors. However, as we become more familiar with digital technology, we have grown distant from plants.

We have empathized with plants. They have been our source of food, clothing, furniture, and even shelter. Human eyes are most sensitive to green. Our bodies bear traces of plants. For plants, flowers represent the comfort and joy of life, enabling them to safely pass on their genetic legacy to the next generation in the environment they have rooted in. The reason we find flowers beautiful is that they signal an environment where humans can settle. As such, barren land where flowers cannot bloom is an inhospitable place for both plants and humans. However, for us, who are familiar with the digital world, barren land is not a concrete floor where plants cannot grow, but a world where we cannot connect to the internet. Digital technology is like a flower that symbolizes a human's habitat. But can digital technology really replace flowers? Plants, digital technology, and all other entities that are tangled up in modern society are not enemies but neighbors. Amidst the confusing and uncomfortable tangle with our neighbors, between flowers, thorns, and fruits, the author hesitates. But perhaps this hesitation is the condition of being a neighbor.

Plants have been our long-time neighbors. However, as we become more familiar with digital technology, we have grown distant from plants.

We have empathized with plants. They have been our source of food, clothing, furniture, and even shelter. Human eyes are most sensitive to green. Our bodies bear traces of plants. For plants, flowers represent the comfort and joy of life, enabling them to safely pass on their genetic legacy to the next generation in the environment they have rooted in. The reason we find flowers beautiful is that they signal an environment where humans can settle. As such, barren land where flowers cannot bloom is an inhospitable place for both plants and humans. However, for us, who are familiar with the digital world, barren land is not a concrete floor where plants cannot grow, but a world where we cannot connect to the internet. Digital technology is like a flower that symbolizes a human's habitat. But can digital technology really replace flowers? Plants, digital technology, and all other entities that are tangled up in modern society are not enemies but neighbors. Amidst the confusing and uncomfortable tangle with our neighbors, between flowers, thorns, and fruits, the author hesitates. But perhaps this hesitation is the condition of being a neighbor.

The project explores the space between expression and communication, the gap between one and another. How might we communicate through presence and proximity? What are the consequences of simple gestures and unconscious actions?

Bacteria, specifically E.Coli, communicate chemically through electrical signals transmitted through the touching of their hair-like flagella that covers their skin. I find chemical communication fascinating for its instantaneous nature of expression and reception. It seems distant from our everyday mode of symbolic communication. Yet this mode of communication is not dissimilar from the way our neurotransmitters interact in our brains.

The video of hands presents people as organisms trying to communicate their existence while being limited and veiled by a screen which serves as a metaphor for language. Thomas Nagel’s essay What Is It Like to Be a Bat was influential in my thinking around the topic of human-to-bacterial communication. I wanted to highlight the difficulty in understanding “others” both at a human scale and a wider ecological scale. By distilling communication into fundamental modalities of presence, proximity, and chemistry, I seek to understand empathy and connection beyond constructed categories of separation.

The video is approximately 10 minutes long and shows a collection of hands varying from 1 to 5 hands at different moments in the video. The hands are veiled by a grey translucent screen making it seem like the hands are emerging out of darkness and without being attached to bodies. Only the tips of the fingers make clear images when they come into contact with the screen while the rest of the hand and the arm become blurred and hazy behind the veil as it goes further back. The gestures of the hand are frivolous and unpredictable, they tap, finger walk, slide back and forth, and sway in and out of the field of view. The hands mostly keep to themselves and attempt to express themselves through unclear gestures and sometimes ever so infrequently interact with one another in a seemingly meaningful manner. It is not clear what the hands are trying to communicate or if they are even trying to communicate. The camera slowly moves around trying to get a view of the hands but the movement of the camera remains restricted to a fairly small space confined by an invisible frame that is never revealed within the video. The resolution of the video is not very high and thus making the hazy nature of the video even more pronounced.