Holoseed (2020)

Holoseed was created during the Arts and Interaction minor at AKV St. Joost. Through newly formed friendships with artists from different disciplines, a mutual curiosity about plant growth blossomed. What began for me as a technical experiment gradually evolved into an exploration of a broader question: where do we draw the boundary between nature and technology? Holoseed was my attempt to see just how closely I could simulate physical plant growth using digital means.

This fascination with the intelligence behind plant growth led me to question the distinction between the artificial and the natural, between nature and culture. Inspired by thinkers such as Donna Haraway, I want to challenge this separation. Isn't a plant responding to the changing seasons also a form of technology? What about the way sequoia pine cones are designed to release their seeds only after the heat of a forest fire?

Seeing plants as technologies shaped by evolution also changed how I think about our own technologies. If natural technology is evolution, then human-made technology is revolution. We should be aware that our rapid technological developments may disrupt more than meets the eye. In such a fast-paced, highly technological world, we should not forget to draw inspiration from biology: its innovations, resilience, and pace.

These ideas are translated into this installation. Visitors are invited to place one of three seed capsules onto a glowing pyramid. The system recognizes the type of seed, after which a corresponding holographic plant begins to grow. The growth of each plant is procedurally generated, resulting in millions of possible variations. Although every plant belongs to the same species, no two growth cycles are ever exactly alike.

Holoseed was exhibited at TAC Eindhoven in January 2020.