Commissioned by the University of Maine, Ken Rinaldo and I are creating a new artwork for the lobby of the lobby of Stewart Commons, which houses the Innovative Media, Research and Commercialization Center and the Wyeth Family Studio Art Center, at the University of Maine.

We are creating Machine Garden, a system sculpture in which plants, worms, microbes, and machines will coexist in a state of symbiotic intertwining. Food waste will be transformed into fertilizer in a worm hive composter, which provides connections to the plants via a highway of interconnected tubes that allow worm migration throughout.

We are building this work as 2017 Researchers-in-residence at the innovative Media, Research and Commercialization Center. This is an incredible facility outfitted with a variety of tools and equipment, including a full shop, 3D printers and 3D scanner, computer-controlled machine tools, a cutting and engraving laser, plastic vacuum former, large format printers, a range of design and production software, electronics workbenches, video and still cameras, audio recording and mixing equipment, and a variety of tools for supporting interactive environments and installations.