Monday 17 – Saturday 22 June, 11am-6pm
An interactive audio installation, using algorithms from the financial market to process data from the horticultural environment into a sonic landscape depicting our place in the natural world.
Hortus proposes an artificial ecology. The visitor is invited to explore the garden where a sensor network measures the dynamics of wind and light harvested by plants during their photosynthetic process, and translating it into bird sounds. When there is human movement in the garden a financial algorithm (similar to the ones used in a speculation economic market) interprets the variation of the received data and transforms and remaps the natural garden soundscape to which plants seem most profitable in that split second.
But when the visitors decide to stop, to read or to reflect, the original sound design for the garden returns, reflecting only the readings of natural energy.
Simultaneously, a network of micro stories circulates in a loop on electronic paper botanic displays, comparing definitions of common terms in the economic, political, or natural worlds such as growth, beauty, regeneration or time.
Presented by LIFT in association with Artsadmin as part of Two Degrees festival.
Hortus is a HOUSE on FIRE co-production. HOUSE on FIRE is supported by the EU Culture Programme