Plasmo-Desma

6-2023

athens Greece

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The expanded body - Experiments in augmented sensory experience.

Plasmo-Desma explores the interdependence between living organisms and the delicate ecological balance that enables their existence. It does not approach this relationship with melancholy or as a burden; on the contrary, it considers the awareness of this interaction as a source of joy and seeks to comunicate it.

With the help of code, sensors and motors, I create a human-plant hybrid. This human-plant hybrid is called a Plasmodesma. Its blood, or more specifically, its movement within the body, provides the information to move the leaf apendages/extensions. The intention is to give visual and aural form to the constant invisible processes that keep us alive.

One of the inspirations for this presentation is Madeline Schwartzman's research in the field of augmented sensory experience. In her book "See Yourself Sensing," she explores works that reshape the way we perceive the body and sensory experience.

The name of the hybrid (plasmodesma) comes from the microscopic channels that allow communication and exchange of nutrients between cells. It is the missing piece to required for me to become a real hybrid body. it aslo embodies natures propencity for union. Plasmodesma is a fictitious symbiotic relationship that arises from the joy of knowing that I am undeniably interdependent with every other living being.