WARDIAN CASE

Stuttgart, 2014
performative installation
plants, singers, gas exchange system (GFS 3000), operator, blue and red lights, bubble wrap, inch pipes, air,
120 min, 15 x 15 x 3 meter
in collaboration with Julia Wirsching

In Wardian Case the voice becomes part of the metabolic process between plants, humans, and a machine within a closed ecosystem. The score is written during the performance and the reciprocative influence between the plant and the voice is audible.

Performance view: gas exchange measurement

The circle shaped construction, surrounded by bubble wrap, separates air-tight chambers.The machine measures the oxygen production, the transpiration and the stomata opening of the plant.The singer transposes these parameters into an audible range. The oxygen production, for example, is related to the air pressure in the singer‘s lung: more oxygen leads to higher pressure and thus higher volume. As the voice influences the gas composition, it manipulates the plant‘s photosynthetic activities. The score, written during the performance, is the manifestation of the physical reciprocative influence of plants and voices.