Sensitive Objects

Kinetic Installation | 2021

• extracellular matrix (ECM) of vegetal tissues obtained via decellularization process, isopropyl alcohol, antifreeze
• Silicone replicas of vegetal tissues moved as a result of electronic sensors connected to motors programmed by arduino boards

The “Sensitive Objects” installation explores the relationship between man and nature, between natural and artificial, between copy and original. The installation consists of a collection of iterated objects (natural and artificial), with decomposed features or swapped details, objects that transit the boundaries between real and fiction in an attempt to find new narratives about the human-exterior relation. One such narrative is proposed by the combination of biological materials (decellularized leaves) with non-biological materials (silicone leaves) whose visual resemblance creates uncertainty about the identity or integrity of matter. The other narrative is linked to the movement of the silicone leaves- a scenario that aims to illustrate the nastic movements of the plant world but not by imitating them in bio-mimetic style, rather by a transfer of some types of movements that are specific, (by the stimuli that generates them) to human life. As follows: -a replica of a leaf is actuated by an EKG sensor, which records the pulse of my heart and transfers it as an electrical impulse to a motor moving the leaf at this rate.

• a replica of a leaf reacts to the presence of people, in its vicinity, through a sensor that records the movement and transfers it by electrical pulse to a motor.
• a replica of a leaf moves like the second hand of a clock; as long as it receives electricity it counts seconds. These types of movements specific to the way we humans relate to life, otherness and time are transferred to these plant fragments in an attempt to redefine the interconnectivity we have with the natural world. They remind us that man and nature are part of the same ontological system.

Credits: programming: Cristian Balas | photo: Robert Floria | video: Mihaela Ghita