Spectrum Crops
Photosynthesis: the process in plants that turns sunlight into chemical energy. It influences the shape, structure and colour of plants and explains why fauna in the tropics is often green and plentiful and turns yellow and sparse when placed in the dark. But what would happen if they are cultivated in the light of a specific colour? Do blue-grown herb leaves look different from orange ones? And will bushes standing in yellow light hold more fruit than those from a violet world?
Artist Diana Scherer researches the impact of coloured light on plant development in her new Spectrum Crops project initiated at Mediamatic.
About the artist
Diana Scherer is an Amsterdam-based German artist who explores the relationship man has with his natural environment and his desire to control nature.
For the past few years, Scherer has been fascinated by plant processes that operate below the ground and are considered to be the ‘brains’ of the plant. Scherer explores and applies plant intelligence in her work by channeling plant roots systems into geometric patterns to form textile-like materials. During the growth process the roots conform to the man-made patterns and continue to weave and braid themselves.
She is currently collaborating with Radboud University to conduct her research and grow these new materials in the university greenhouses. Her project has recently been awarded with the New Material Fellow Award.
Information
Spectrum Crops: Findings in Color
The installation is open 24/7
Mediamatic Biotoop, Dijkspark 6, 1019 BS, Amsterdam
Spectrum Crops - Findings in Color is made possible by Mondriaan Fund.
