Stefan Kainbacher. Trialogue: Holobiont Habitat – Chapter 1. Decode
Description
Trialogue: Holobiont Habitat – Chapter 1: Decode is a large-scale audiovisual installation exploring the possibilities and limitations of communication between biological and technological agents.
In the center of the art space stand eight black 19-inch server racks, arranged in a circle like a technological Stonehenge. The racks form the habitat of a hybrid organism in which plants, sensors, computers, artificial intelligence, and audiovisual systems are interconnected.
Each rack houses live plants, full-spectrum grow lights, speakers, and various technical components. Network cables, power lines, and hoses from an automated irrigation system connect the individual units into a single loop. The technical infrastructure is deliberately left visible and becomes part of the spatial composition.
The plants are continuously monitored using various sensors. The focus is on measuring bioelectrical signals using Plant-SpikerBox systems, supplemented by environmental and climate data. Four of the experimental stations are also equipped with camera systems that are used to visually observe the plants.
The collected data is processed by a locally operated multi-agent system. The AI agents analyze electrical activity patterns, image data, and environmental parameters, and attempt to identify correlations, states, and recurring patterns in the plants’ behavior. The installation presents this process not as a solved problem, but as an ongoing attempt at a machine-based approach to a non-human form of communication.
The work is conceived as an artistic research setting: The AI does not attempt to control plants, but rather to understand them. The actual focus of the work is therefore less the plant itself and more the question of how technical systems generate meaning and what limitations exist in this process.
Trialogue: Holobiont Habitat – Chapter 1: Decode marks the first part of an ongoing series of works. While this chapter focuses on the decoding of biological signals, future chapters will explore further forms of interaction, translation, and coexistence between human and non-human actors.
- Implementation time/s
- No implementation
Price information
free admission
Opening hours
Daily from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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