GMU:Home Made Bioelectronics/Sophia Amelia Eickhoff

FUCK OFF

Concept

Extended intelligence in connection to humans is a popular discussion. Giving another organism the power to communicate and extend it self’s intelligence is rather 'underground'. After all physical harm humans have done to plants, if they could talk, plants would probably tell humans to “Fuck off”.

In this interactive installation I am giving a plant the power to communicate with humans. For this the natural impulses that go through a plant are being captured. Therefore, making the plant the sensor and appropriating its natural sensory. The closer (physical) a human comes to a plant it is going to react. These impulses that it is giving to itself will be different, and these will determine different sentences and insults in English and German.

Technical

Terms

The insults are collected in advance. For this, people are asked which insult they use frequently, find "most efficient", funny or perhaps even endearing. Via Instagram, a pin board, family gatherings.... different generations and social niches will come together.

Thoughts

• I am in power over what the plant will be saying and interpreting the behavior, but I do not know . Maybe this plant is masochistic, and loves being treated bad. I am giving it a linguistic pattern that is determined and limited (Noam Chomsky). Therefore, I am controlling the plants will, which is the opposite of giving the plant the power.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-chomsky/mind-language-and-the-limits-of-inquiry/B2FAB55FEAAD93B19EA5BCB888607879

• By generating the terms, the plant will probably turn out sexist. I doubt that people will give me gender neutral insults.

Problems

If capturing the impulses won’t be possible one ore more distance sensor will be used.