Dania González Sanabria

Y de sublimes dolores.

…

(I know strange names

Of plants and flowers,

And of deadly cheatings

And of sublime pains.)

José Martí. “Versos Sencillos”, Fragment. ( José Julián Martí Pérez (Havana, 1853 - Dos Ríos, 1895) was a Cuban politician, diplomat, poet, essayist, journalist and philosopher, founder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and organizer of the Cuban War of Independence, during which he died in combat. He is considered the initiator of literary modernism in Latin America. He is considered the national hero of the Republic of Cuba, and his ideals of independence and anti-colonialism have been used by the Cuban regime to politically indoctrinate the Cuban people. But these same ideals of nationalism and independence also serve as a guide and inspiration to the opposition that desires a Cuba without repression, a just country and a republic “with everyone and for the good of everyone”).

Concept

The lemon tree is a resilient plant that bears fruit even when it is dying. In this project, the lemon tree is a symbol of the members and generations of my Cuban family, it is an inheritance of sentimental and moral values in it.

This piece is inspired by my grandfather, Justo Manuel González. The last words he wrote, when he was already losing his faculties, were an autobiography recounting the enormous work he did, mostly linked to the Cuban revolutionary process and its social and economic tasks. Justo, who was a “national vanguard” of the Cuban Revolution, worked with honesty, sacrifice, and faith, to create a good society for his family, his community, and his country. But he died in 2021 in Cuba, after several months of being a victim of medical abandonment and negligence in a country that became corrupted and neglectful of its people.

He never lived the system and country he dreamed of, even when he worked and fought for it his whole life.

The death of the old lemon tree also speaks about the Cuban context in general, its history, and its current sociopolitical crisis that generates physical and sentimental ruptures of its most vulnerable families. It has affected especially the humble elderly people who were the working generations who created and supported the revolutionary Cuban process that became corrupted and negligent to them. Now, those persons are the most affected by the crisis, being abandoned by the system to which they gave their faith and the effort of their lives. The piece is a tribute to them.

Description

The project is an archive of three generations of lemon trees in my family, using photos, writings, sketches, dried branches and fruits, and new plants.

The archive starts with the death of the old lemon tree in my parents’ home in Cuba, depicting its analogy with my grandfather´s death and life. I decided to show a photo of the still-full-of-lemon branch of the dead old tree and also a photo of when that tree completely fell down.

I used the branches collected from that tree, making them move when the visitor approached close to them. It was also shown a dried lemon from that tree.

The archive also shows how my parents in Cuba, after the death of the old lemon tree planted a new lemon tree in their yard, and also show how I, a few years after escaping from Cuba, decided to start planting new lemon trees, as a way of approach to my family and roots despite distance and exile.

I also set up a house-shaped terrarium with the new lemon tree plants.

Sketch 1, Lemon tree archive, Dania González Sanabria

Embedded systems

In the project, were implemented two systems of sensors and actuators controlled by Arduino boards, and programmed in Visual Studio Code and Arduino programs.

Sketch 2, Lemon tree archive, Dania González Sanabria

1rts Board:

For the moving branch, it was set a system with an HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Distance Sensor controlling a Miuzei 15 kg Digital Servo Motor, through an Arduino Nano and a connective board.

When the spectator approaches 65 cm of the branches, the servo motor starts to turn from 0 to 18 degrees, making the branches, attached to it, start to move. If the spectator approaches at a closer distance (50 cm), the servo motor turns from 0 to 40 degrees, making the branches move a little bit more.

The Servo Motor received an extra supply of energy from an MB-102 3.3V/5V Power Module plugged into electricity and connected to the 2nd board.

2nd Board: The terrarium had a humidifier system inside. It was made with a Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor connected to an Arduino Nano and a connective board.

When the soil got drier (over value 400 read by that sensor, whose values are approximately this: wet is < 400, dry is > 400), a 5V Relay Module also connected to the board, activated a 5V Humidifier made with a piezoelectric. When the soil got humid again (under value 400) the humidifier stopped until the soil got dry again. The relay and humidifier received an extra supply of energy from an MB-102 3.3V/5V Power Module plugged into electricity.

Sketch 3, Lemon tree archive, Dania González Sanabria

Technology

• Arduino Nano
• capacitive soil sensor
• 15g Servo

Code

For the platformio.ini:

[env:esp32dev]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
lib_deps = roboticsbrno/ServoESP32@1.0.3
monitor_speed = 9600

Fort he main.cpp:

#include <Arduino.h>
// include the servo library
#include <Servo.h>

Manual construction

I

Exhibition

Concept

The idea was to place the guitar on a table, with a clothing rack positioned behind it, from which the six plants would hang. These included a hyacinth and an alocasia in bags, a fern and a pepper plant in small greenhouses, as well as a begonia and a moldy euphorbia in screw-top jars.

The cables and the breadboard were intentionally installed with minimal cable management, keeping them clearly visible to emphasize the DIY aesthetic.

The lighting needed to be bright enough to provide sufficient light for the plants without being too harsh. Hanna brought her grow lights, which perfectly illuminated the exhibition niche where our work was displayed.

We chose the niche as our exhibition space because it allowed us to maintain a necessary distance from other sound-based projects. Additionally, this setup ensured that the work could only be viewed from the front, preventing visitors from accidentally bumping into it and disturbing any components.

Preparations and setup

Hanna and I met in Weimar on the Saturday before the exhibition to attach the picks to the motors and test the interaction of all components. This allowed us to check the overall functionality of both the code and the construction. Fortunately, everything worked as intended, with only a few minor tasks remaining.

Our plan was to hang the plants from a clothing rack. However, since two of the plants were potted in jars, suspending them proved to be a challenge. To solve this, I crafted wooden discs with holes through which we could thread wire, ensuring that the jars could be securely hung. Hanna also made some minor adjustments to our code.

On the Thursday before the exhibition, we finalized our setup. We darkened the window, adjusted the lighting, secured all components to the table to prevent any shifting during the exhibition, connected the sensors and motors, plugged in the power supply, set the timers, and fine-tuned the height of the mounting structure to ensure that each pick could strike its string and produce a pleasant sound.

(written by Fiene)

Winterwerkschau

The Winterwerkschau was a great success for our project. Contrary to our initial concerns, the adhesive held up perfectly, keeping the picks securely attached to the motors for both days of the exhibition. As a result, all the strings could be continuously played without any issues.

When Hanna and I took our turn overseeing the exhibition, we were met with an incredible amount of interest and enthusiasm. Visitors were fascinated by our work, showering us with questions and curiosity. It was an incredibly rewarding experience that filled us with pride and reinforced our excitement about what we had created.

All the hard work had truly paid off, and seeing our project resonate with others made the effort even more worthwhile.

(written by Fiene)