Toolkit
One of the scientific terms defining plant interaction is allelopathy, a phenomenon wherein compounds produced by one plant affect the growth of surrounding plants. The compounds produced are released into the soils or taken in by symbiotic fungi and further transported over mycorrhizal networks to the target plants within the same community in order to resist invasive species. Why would fungi and plants interact with each other? How would that happen? And what further picture could be drawn from this interaction?
Using allelopathy as a metaphor for plant interaction, this project suggests interference in this interaction by adding an electronic interface to plants that captures biochemical signals and translates them into digital values and vice versa. The electronic interface acts as a proxy server, able to change the information passed and influence the target destination.
I would like to express my gratitude to Martin Howse who kindly contributed with experiments involving electronics and collaborated in the production of the video tutorial. The project was kindly supported by the Nordic Culture Point and by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.