Sonata from 4 Fittonia

Installed at Contemporary Istanbul,
Lutfi Kırdar, Istanbul, Turkey
November 29 - December 2, 2007

Dimensions variable

Potted Fittonia ( Fittonia verschaffeltii ), wire, CUI board, custom software, Mac Mini, Apple Cinema Display and speakers.

Based on the idea of a "Nature Intelligence," whereby all the things around us in nature, be they animal, mineral or vegetable, exhibit intelligence that can be perceived, 4 Fittonia ( Fittonia verschaffeltii ) are connected to monitoring equipment and their signals given "voice" through the use of custom software running on a Apple Mac Mini. The software translates the incoming signal from the Fittonia into MIDI which is then applied to instruments inside Ableton Live and amplified.

Further precedent for this project is based on the work of Cleve Backster, who’s groundbreaking work with plants was mentioned prominently in The Secret Life of Plants
by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. Also of note is the work of Duncan Laurie and Gordon Salisbury, who’s studies in sonifying nature intelligence directly influenced the piece presented here.