When art meets the biological sciences

Published on May 13, 2021

A PhytlSigns device took a trip to the Amazon…

Back in 2019, when the world was a different place, Russian artist Olga Kisseleva took a PhytlSigns device to the Amazonian rainforest…Olga started the bio-art EDEN project in 2012 to explore the intersection of art, and biology in indigenous communities in Brazil.

Here is an excerpt from an article about the artist’s discoveries while using our device (translated from French).

 

Embodying an invisible communication

“EDEN is based on a disturbing scientific observation: trees communicate with each other and with their environment. This ability allows them to regulate their vital mechanisms, promote pollination, adjust their growth and repel potential aggressors by emitting different kinds of signals and molecules. They don’t use words but scents, adding molecules together in the same way that we add up letters to make a word. Trees transmit very sophisticated, precise and complex information to other trees and to other living beings, such as predatory insects. Similar to a network, this communication is neither verbal nor visual.”

 

“The sensors of the PhytlSigns system, attached to the plants, allow measurements and calculation of the electrical signal composed of different natural charges: in other words, metaphorically or poetically speaking, to really hear the inner voice of the tree. EDEN gives voice to the trees, creates a digital visualisation of an invisible dialogue, of a particular flow of information through technology.”

Click here to read the full article (in French).

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About the Author: Marina Martin Curran

Marina started her career in international development specialising in monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment of animal health programmes. She has worked as a consultant since 2001 in areas relating to sustainability: environmental reporting, training and lecturing, and assessing community investments for corporate clients. She holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she investigated the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. Since 2008, she has carried out contracts for WWF, The Economist, the University of Geneva (arctic tourism), and lectured at HTW Chur, International University in Geneva, SUMAS and Business School of Lausanne in CSR and sustainability. Marina has worked for start-ups in the green energy and textile sectors.