Recently in week 2 Category

I found HORTUS to be a fascinating project. I liked that the interactivity of the project was quite crucial to the success of the project. I would enjoy visiting that installation; it seemed well-designed throughout. It sparked thoughts of what the effects of the immense volume of CO2 exhaled in England actually does to the bacteria living in the city, on a large scale. It was also quite poignant and timely for them to incite thoughts of biologically generated usable energy, but perhaps too little too late.

I didn't quite get the virtual garden part. I looked through it, and it seemed to be just a list of the microorganisms in the project, rather than a matrix of real-time images or representations of the organisms, which I expected.

-Peter

Both Hannah and skidmo14 brought up the physical (plastic IV bags) and virtual barriers (QR codes) that H.O.R.T.U.S. creates between the algae and its participants. I feel that by disseminating information through the use of QR codes, it's not so much "bribing them with a virtual game," as it is reinforcing the idea that you have to own smartphone technology in order to interact with the H.O.R.T.U.S. algae. This makes the project somewhat elitist, as participants sit on astroturf and ponder about their solely virtual interactions with the H.O.R.T.U.S. version of Boy in A Plastic Bubble.

On the other hand the architectural plans for the Regional Algae Farm
look fascinating, especially the design for an underwater museum. The Regional Algae Farm seems to have a more direct connection between the people and algae, but is also looking at new ways of sustaining a declining community. The project reuses underutilized areas (i.e. Crane Greenhouses) and creates new structures (i.e. Migro Towers) that aren't an eye soar on the landscape and provide shelter for migratory birds. The H.O.R.T.U.S. installation is just one small look into a much larger enterprise. Despite H.O.R.T.U.S.'s problems involving limited interactivity, Regional Algae Farm seems to be on track to remedying its defects.

-Teréz

I agree with what Hannah said. The virtual garden might be an effective way to get people involved, but it is also kinda cheap. Maybe I would change my mind if I was able to interact with it, but the concept is not all that appealing to me. The physical installation is interesting though. I'm very much in to interactive art, particularly interactive art with a purpose. I've seen many installations that seemed to be interactive for the sake of being interactive...which is fun, but not all too conceptually interesting to me.

The H.O.R.T.U.S. installation seems to be an interesting attempt to, in a sense, foster some sort of personal relationship between a single human being and one specific collection of algae. In another sense, however, the use of plastic IV bags creates a physical barrier, distancing participants from the plants, while giving the whole garden a bit of a clinical tone. I'm not sure that the virtual garden component adds anything important to the work. I do think that allowing participants to access information specific to the algae that they "feed" is another way of strengthening a sort of bond, but the virtual garden seems to once again create a barrier between people and the plants. If ecoLogicStudio is pursuing interaction between people and algae as a potential source for nonpolluting energy, I would be very interested in understanding what this particular installation does toward furthering that end.

I think it's awesome that you can interact with the piece by giving air to the different kinds of algae and also finding out more information about them through the phone. However, I don't know how much I like the idea of the virtual garden. I feel like that is just a cheap way to try and get people involved - by bribing them with a virtual game they can play if they take part in the art. It seems to me like just another Farmville and promotes the idea of everything going virtual when the project itself is aimed at promoting life happening in the real world.

If it is a way to help get the project going, though, then I suppose it's a good idea. I'm more interested in the actual algae - what exactly can it do for us? How does my breathing into this bag help our world? I would rather have the project focus more of its energy on answering my questions than inventing a virtual game that diverts attention towards an end rather than the means or the process of the project itself.

Hannah S

Blog author Regine [we make money not art] blogged about the recent installation of H.O.R.T.U.S. (Hydro Organism Responsive to Urban Stimuli).

She reveals her uncertain response to the project. What is your response to this installation, what questions might your have for the architectural group that created it?