The story explores the work of Monica Gagliano and an essay by science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, which he wrote for the Human Interference Task Force in the 1980s. Lem’s essay was written in response to a request for ideas of what to do with nuclear waste and its incredibly long life span; he suggested encoding messages into the DNA of plants. Gagliano is well known for her research into plant intelligence and the behaviours that demonstrate memory by the Mimosa plant.

Designed for two people to experience together, you will be provided with a special device and props before being sent off to explore the natural world; a hearing, living thing, sensorially alert like you. 

You and your partner’s short journeys are different but will work in synchronicity with the other. Like a symbolic choreography, both of your actions become a performance for the other. 

Invisible to the naked eye, the audio narration and AR content comes to life to invite musing on the living environment and a future world in which humans will no longer be present. 

For this experience the contact between the user and their phone is intimate and ongoing. Freyja designed a tangible world of touchpoints to guide the user into the AR experience:

• Immersive on-boarding environment with front/back of house, charging stations, storage

• 6 Plant History Artefacts

• Beaten earth plinths made from soil which afterwards nourishes the garden

• Textured Headphones

• Front of house staff costumes

• 6 pairs of ‘portals’ 3D printed phone prosthesis. The biophilic form encases the phone and frames the screen, it also adding functionality, a binding place for the thread needed during the experience, and an interlinking form allowing it to bond with the partners own portal. The cases are intentionally ‘dirty’. Hand-textured with plant based bioplastics and organic material like roots, stones and chalk, the surfaces are designed to hold on the the earth they are lain in before presentation to the user.

“I love working with biodegradable materials, not just because it’s good for 🌍 but actually because it’s so fun working with materials you can get really close with! My fingers, face and world can become a green flakey fuzzy dirty mess.
As we change our attitudes towards consumption and ourselves as consumers we may need to address our expectations, maybe things shouldn’t last for ever, maybe things are designed to degrade, and that might mean we need to be ok with things not being always perfect, shiny and new, maybe we need to learn to love the imperfect, natural and grubby 🤔”