Our Presentation on ArtScience Finals Night:
Script:
Kate: Hi, I’m Kate Hampton
Naomi: I’m Naomi Green
Amanda: and I’m Amanda Erickson
Kate: Earlier in the year, we struggled greatly with a direction. The term energy can allude to so many topics, it was difficult to choose just one! In an effort to narrow our focus, we looked towards nature. We came to the realization that we live in a highly industrialized, technologically focused world. For instance, we overheard a fourth grader profess he likes to play indoors better “'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are." Never before in history have children and individuals been so plugged in—and so out of touch with the natural world. Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, youth these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result they've come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality.
Amanda: Youth aren’t the only ones being affected by this disconnect from the natural world. This has shaped many of us into being so focused on new things, that we forget to appreciate and consider possibility in what we have.
Naomi: Especially with nature.
Kate: We are given the opportunity to live in harmony with nature, yet fail to take it. The human race wastes natural resources left and right: dumping waste into rivers, polluting the air, and other harmful acts that separate us from the natural word. We are the only species that does this.
Naomi: There are a few things being done to change this, but not enough.
Amanda: Solar powered landscape lamps and indoor gardens are examples of existing ways we use nature and technology together. However, we want to open minds to the idea that there is so much more to be done in this area.
Naomi: We are reconstructing the ideas on how we live with nature today; changing it from a destructive present to a harmonious future.
Kate: Our original thoughts were about directly taking energy directly from plants without harming them. However, that came to a quick stop when we realized we did not have the time or resources to conquer such a large task, especially with so little prior research.
Amanda: From that, we began looking at the behavior of plants. We were very interested in the way sun flowers follow the sun throughout the day and discovered the process known as phototropism.
Naomi: Phototropism is the growth of organisms in response to light in order to receive maximum energy.
Amanda: One of our first ideas was solar-shingles that would follow the sun throughout the day. After doing some quick research, we realized that the brilliance of that idea had already come to fruition.
Kate: We struggled a bit with deciding how to move our project forward afterwards, but with great perseverance, we came to a solution and decided to bring the art into ArtScience.
Naomi: We knew we wanted to work with plant energy but weren’t entirely sure how. Which is what led us to Jan Vandervelde, a music teacher here at Perpich. She recommended a documentary from the 1970s to us: The Secret Life of Plants. The documentary shared many ideas on plant physiology, and introduced the concept of singing plants.
Kate: The film showed multiple examples of people reading the life signals of plants. In one case, a polygraph is used to visually display these signs, and another system read life signals and translated them into sound. This latter example truly caught our interest.
Amanda: We decided to recreate this experiment ourselves. After searching through numerous codes online, we found instructions that would read a plants capacitance in response to its environment.
Kate: Capacitance is an object’s ability to store electrical charge.
Naomi: We were able to do this by attaching a plant to a touche shield and Arduino. The touché shield is hooked up to the plant with alligator clips and reads the capacitance. The touche shield is then connected to an Arduino, where the program collects data and sends it into processing. In our case, processing takes the values it receives and graphs them, creating a visual of the plants life signs. You could think of it much like a heart monitor. We have struggled with issues on completing the program that will change those values from visual to sound.
Amanda: Our experiment lead us to wondering, “How can we make this into art?” A few brainstorming sessions lead us to the answer.
Kate: We’ve designed multiple versions of a greenhouse that will become our public installation exhibit. This building will be a home to the plants. People can enter and hear plants responses to their interactions. This will open their minds to the idea that plants are more than just a decoration, but rather remind they are a whole other form of LIFE. It will bring people together and make them more aware of the possibilities of living among nature without destroying it. One of the greatest features of our project is the flexibility of scale. We have worked on constructing a singular unit, but our idea could be expanded bigger than our imaginations.
Naomi: Although plants have enough energy to control all of our technologies with this project, they didn’t have enough to fuel them. We brainstormed different ways we could go about powering the system. This is when our ideas on phototropism and solar shingles came back into play.
Amanda: We’ve created a solar panel that will follow the sun throughout the day. It will do so using four light sensors: two vertical, operated by two servo motors; and two horizontal, operated by the base motors. As the sun’s position changes in the sky, shadows will be cast upon these light sensors due to the “cross sign” struction to which they are attached. As light moves, the sensors will search until each sensor has an equal amount of light cast upon it. This will ensure the maximum amount of solar energy is collected. Our solar robot will fuel the technologies used on our singing plants by supplying power to a battery, and then distributing the captured energy as needed.
Naomi: For the time being, we have chosen to leave much of the tangible elements conceptual. When planning for the future however, we hope to upgrade the solar bot and build a complete greenhouse. We hope to gain resources such as new materials like wood and usable solar panels, as well as a suitable workspace and more mentors; all of these things will require others effort beyond ourselves.
Kate: Through our work this year we’ve learned many things; between that knowledge and our pre-existing passion and determination, anything is possible. Dr. Seuss’s character the Lorax once spoke for the trees, but we’re now giving them a way to speak all on their own. Our greenhouse will open up minds of society to the idea of living in harmony with nature and learning to use our natural resources responsibly.
Amanda: We hope the awareness of plant life and the possibilities of plant energy are further explored due to the influence of our work.
Naomi: Thank you.
Naomi: I’m Naomi Green
Amanda: and I’m Amanda Erickson
Kate: Earlier in the year, we struggled greatly with a direction. The term energy can allude to so many topics, it was difficult to choose just one! In an effort to narrow our focus, we looked towards nature. We came to the realization that we live in a highly industrialized, technologically focused world. For instance, we overheard a fourth grader profess he likes to play indoors better “'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are." Never before in history have children and individuals been so plugged in—and so out of touch with the natural world. Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, youth these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result they've come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality.
Amanda: Youth aren’t the only ones being affected by this disconnect from the natural world. This has shaped many of us into being so focused on new things, that we forget to appreciate and consider possibility in what we have.
Naomi: Especially with nature.
Kate: We are given the opportunity to live in harmony with nature, yet fail to take it. The human race wastes natural resources left and right: dumping waste into rivers, polluting the air, and other harmful acts that separate us from the natural word. We are the only species that does this.
Naomi: There are a few things being done to change this, but not enough.
Amanda: Solar powered landscape lamps and indoor gardens are examples of existing ways we use nature and technology together. However, we want to open minds to the idea that there is so much more to be done in this area.
Naomi: We are reconstructing the ideas on how we live with nature today; changing it from a destructive present to a harmonious future.
Kate: Our original thoughts were about directly taking energy directly from plants without harming them. However, that came to a quick stop when we realized we did not have the time or resources to conquer such a large task, especially with so little prior research.
Amanda: From that, we began looking at the behavior of plants. We were very interested in the way sun flowers follow the sun throughout the day and discovered the process known as phototropism.
Naomi: Phototropism is the growth of organisms in response to light in order to receive maximum energy.
Amanda: One of our first ideas was solar-shingles that would follow the sun throughout the day. After doing some quick research, we realized that the brilliance of that idea had already come to fruition.
Kate: We struggled a bit with deciding how to move our project forward afterwards, but with great perseverance, we came to a solution and decided to bring the art into ArtScience.
Naomi: We knew we wanted to work with plant energy but weren’t entirely sure how. Which is what led us to Jan Vandervelde, a music teacher here at Perpich. She recommended a documentary from the 1970s to us: The Secret Life of Plants. The documentary shared many ideas on plant physiology, and introduced the concept of singing plants.
Kate: The film showed multiple examples of people reading the life signals of plants. In one case, a polygraph is used to visually display these signs, and another system read life signals and translated them into sound. This latter example truly caught our interest.
Amanda: We decided to recreate this experiment ourselves. After searching through numerous codes online, we found instructions that would read a plants capacitance in response to its environment.
Kate: Capacitance is an object’s ability to store electrical charge.
Naomi: We were able to do this by attaching a plant to a touche shield and Arduino. The touché shield is hooked up to the plant with alligator clips and reads the capacitance. The touche shield is then connected to an Arduino, where the program collects data and sends it into processing. In our case, processing takes the values it receives and graphs them, creating a visual of the plants life signs. You could think of it much like a heart monitor. We have struggled with issues on completing the program that will change those values from visual to sound.
Amanda: Our experiment lead us to wondering, “How can we make this into art?” A few brainstorming sessions lead us to the answer.
Kate: We’ve designed multiple versions of a greenhouse that will become our public installation exhibit. This building will be a home to the plants. People can enter and hear plants responses to their interactions. This will open their minds to the idea that plants are more than just a decoration, but rather remind they are a whole other form of LIFE. It will bring people together and make them more aware of the possibilities of living among nature without destroying it. One of the greatest features of our project is the flexibility of scale. We have worked on constructing a singular unit, but our idea could be expanded bigger than our imaginations.
Naomi: Although plants have enough energy to control all of our technologies with this project, they didn’t have enough to fuel them. We brainstormed different ways we could go about powering the system. This is when our ideas on phototropism and solar shingles came back into play.
Amanda: We’ve created a solar panel that will follow the sun throughout the day. It will do so using four light sensors: two vertical, operated by two servo motors; and two horizontal, operated by the base motors. As the sun’s position changes in the sky, shadows will be cast upon these light sensors due to the “cross sign” struction to which they are attached. As light moves, the sensors will search until each sensor has an equal amount of light cast upon it. This will ensure the maximum amount of solar energy is collected. Our solar robot will fuel the technologies used on our singing plants by supplying power to a battery, and then distributing the captured energy as needed.
Naomi: For the time being, we have chosen to leave much of the tangible elements conceptual. When planning for the future however, we hope to upgrade the solar bot and build a complete greenhouse. We hope to gain resources such as new materials like wood and usable solar panels, as well as a suitable workspace and more mentors; all of these things will require others effort beyond ourselves.
Kate: Through our work this year we’ve learned many things; between that knowledge and our pre-existing passion and determination, anything is possible. Dr. Seuss’s character the Lorax once spoke for the trees, but we’re now giving them a way to speak all on their own. Our greenhouse will open up minds of society to the idea of living in harmony with nature and learning to use our natural resources responsibly.
Amanda: We hope the awareness of plant life and the possibilities of plant energy are further explored due to the influence of our work.
Naomi: Thank you.