Resilient Blooms

Resilient Blooms is a poetic, yet truthful multimedia exhibition about how humans in the future will experience nature, more specifically their relationship to it through flowers. It is a speculative installation for visitors to both physically and digitally interact with replicas of flowers through the use of technology and re-experience their connection with nature. The goal of this installation is to create an intimate way for humans to understand that despite our modern society, at our core, we are nature as much as we are technology and we have a direct impact on changing the environment. The three installation pieces within the exhibition are representative of what might feel lost in the future, primarily a sense of belonging to our ecosystem. Experiencing the loss of direct biological contact with nature for the first time might allow the viewer to reflect on our current historical challenges with nature.

The final exhibition is composed of three pedestals. Each pedestal focuses on one kind of flower and human interaction within it.These small interactions are meant to make the viewer aware of their impact on nature, as well as remind them that nature also has an impact on our living conditions, whether those are physical or emotional.

Link to Videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/4/folders/1I-aewrA-6_sTmLRS8expn8avkV4rn39y

For this piece, I used an image of an anemone as a reference to create other colored anemones with Adobe Firefly. I imported the images of the anemones into Illustrator and traced the outline of these. I used the file with the vector outlines to cut the overall shape of the flowers with a laser cutter. The plywood cut out is backed with printed images of the anemones. A projector will project over the back of the wooden and paper sculpture the color of the flowers. The projection is triggered by the visitor passing in front of  a camera hidden within the pedestal. Movements seen through the camera prompt Touchdesigner to start the coloring of the flowers. The colors of the flowers slowly and organically grow over the printed paper flowers to resemble the movement of blooming flowers. The interaction behind this piece is prompted by the presence of the viewer. If the flower is not in connection with a human passerby it would never flourish, as their presence generates the projected image.

This pedestal showcases a lantern. The lantern structure is made out of fluorescent yellow acrylic. with outlines of daffodils engraved on the surface. The interaction is based on human proximity. An ultrasonic sensor hidden in the pedestal triggers the LED light inside the lantern. The ultrasonic sensor tracks the closeness of the viewer to the pedestal. Once the viewer is close enough to the lantern the light will turn on. The light is hidden inside yellow petals made with cello wrap. The servo motor allows the light to delicately oscillate from one side to another. The light casts shadows on the surroundings of the pedestal and their oscillating movement resembles flowers moving in the wind. This piece is evocative of a past time where humans were spending time in nature. 

In this pedestal the viewer interacts with a hologram of a 3D digital lotus. This is to show the difficulty in reaching out to the flower and subsequent inability to touch.

Despite their simplicity each interaction is meant to provide the audience with an ‘oh’ moment. It is not meant to boldly reiterate the concept of the environmental issues we are currently facing, but instead to give the viewer a moment of peace and steadiness where they can subtly recognize their impact on nature. Their presence, movement, and their location in space, will spark a noticeable visual change for each of the three pedestals.

The overall goal of the three pedestals that make up this installation is to provide the viewer with a simple, yet thoughtful way of rediscovering elements of nature. The visitors’ takeaway is that they should see themselves as an essential part of the display because their participation completes the exhibit.

In the speculative context of people living in urban spaces,technology, something we can’t live without anymore, will come to aid to restore what we have lost. By experiencing the plasticity of what future flowers would look like if current flowers go extinct and seeing through visual aids what the interconnectedness of humans and nature might look like, people will recognize the potential disconnection that they currently are experiencing with nature.