Living roots form intimate relationships with fungi, bacteria, soil organisms, and other plants. Charles Darwin proposed that the root tip functions like a brain—sensitive to conditions around it and capable of directing growth in response to external stimuli. These decisions unfold through dynamic changes in movement and orientation. This “root-brain” hypothesis has been advanced by scientists today, who are uncovering the chemical signals that plant roots are using to communicate.[1] They are defining the emerging, much debated field of plant neurobiology.

The roots in this sculpture come from exceptionally vigorous plants weeded from our yard, dead plants abandoned in neighborhood alleyways, and culled specimens from the biological sciences greenhouse at our university.

Created with Ken Rinaldo, for our duo exhibition “Symbiotic Worlds: Symbiogenesis in Art”, at the University of Texas, Dallas.

Special thanks to our curator and supporter curated by Dr. Charissa Terranova. Also to Trademark Gunderson for project assistance and video editing.

1. Baluška, František, Stefano Mancuso, Dieter Volkmann, and Peter Barlow. “The ‘Root-Brain’ Hypothesis of Charles and Francis Darwin: Revival after More than 125 Years.” Plant Signaling & Behavior 4, no. 12 (2009): 1121–27. Open Access article.

Wheatgrass seeds are sown into a bed of agar agar, where their roots weave into strands of fiber optic cables.

Agar agar is an algae-based growth medium that offers food and support for the grass’ roots in the absence of soil. Red seaweeds, which are a type of algae, produce this gelatinous substance to enable flexibility and adaptation in their wavy, ocean environments. Humans have found it useful as a food too, and we enjoy its jelly-like qualities in cakes, ice creams, candies, and canned meats.

The transparency of agar agar reveals how roots weave themselves together, over, under, and around the strands of fiber optic cables also embedded within the medium. The cables are like those that transmit telecommunication signals under oceans and over land, carrying our data, our voices, and videos of loved ones to screens far away. In this tapestry, the fiber optic cables carry visible light; waving through seaweed media and illuminating the intelligence of plant roots.

INSPIRATIONS: This work arises from over a year of intense focus on plant roots.. These experiences and references were important to the process:

• An Artist Residency at Folly Tree Arboretum, where I explored root growth in multiple ways, including digging up weeds at the arboretum and turning them into sculptures by painting them blue with non-toxic paints.
• Co-teaching a class with Iris Meier called “The Art and Science of Roots” at the Ohio State University. Together, with graduate and undergraduate students, we experimented with plant roots and learned about the rhizosphere; the rich world of biodiversity that surrounds them.
• Scientific papers such as, “Fiber Optics in Plants” that demonstrate that roots have light-guiding capabilities and they give information to plants that influence their growth.
• The artists and scientists of the Algae Society, whose creative work raised my awareness of the importance and ubiquity of algae. Seaweed is an algae and agar is made of it.
• Artists: Diana Scherer and Zena Holloway.

Machine Garden was installed in the lobby of the art building at the University of Maine where it was cared for by students and staff for 3 years. Adjacent to this installation was a student-run coffee shop that generated a waste stream of coffee grounds. The grounds were placed under the hat at the top of the “worm hive” section. By the time this section filled up, the bottom container would be finished compost, which was used to fertilize other plants, both inside and outside the building. Each hive section would be moved to the shelf below, with the empty one becoming the top, ready for more food waste. Worms migrate to the new food source through the holes in the bottom of each section. Additional connected tube highways enabled the worms to travel from their hive to the soil of the planters, enriching and aerating it as they go.

Ken Rinaldo and I collaborated to create Machine Garden during our residency at the University of Maine’s Innovation Media Research Center (IMRC). We had the great help of the people and facilities there. Special thanks to Gene Felice, Sean Michael Taylor, Reed, Rachel Alexandrou, and Amy Pierce.

Composting worms are excellent co-habitants that can help us reduce our greenhouse gas output by eating waste paper and food scraps that would otherwise be sent to landfills, which generate methane. Local, in-home worms can transform domestic organic waste into a rich, nutritious fertilizer that can be fed to houseplants, food gardens, trees or lawns. Worm ecosystems are odor-free, silent and thrive in dark, moist places with food, so they will not want to leave their worm cozy. I understand that some people are squeamish about the idea of living with worms, which is why these cozies are designed to be friendly, fuzzy, and discrete.

The worm castings – hanging from the wood mesh in this sculpture – were hand-formed into the shapes of worms. They are made of worm waste sourced from the bottom of my home worm bins and mixed with a binding agent to create a clay-like material. I feed my worm colony waste food, paper, dead plants, coffee grounds, lint, rabbit manure, and fur. I feed the worm castings to my garden plants. When I am eating a tomato from my garden I digest the distinction between waste and food.

From the perspective of a plant, the worm castings in this sculpture are a nutritious, edible food. From the perspective of a worm, everything else in this sculpture is edible.

The statues present the park visitor with an array of props to arrange as they see fit and they also present the webcam viewers with a changing scene of Coshocton, which includes live actors among the photographically represented.

This public art project concept by Amy Youngs was created in collaboration with the Coshocton Opportunity High School students and Anne Cornell at the Pomerene Center for the Arts.

Viewers interact with the work through two live video feeds, which intermingle with videos captured from the natural and urban body of central Ohio. These elements are mixed into a dynamic structure that visualizes the interconnections between the natural and technological aspects of our urban landscape, playing at many scales, and creating the sense of a non-hierarchical, ever-changing whole.

This project was a commission from COSI (Columbus Museum of Science and Industry) for their permanent collection.

Special thanks to curator Sarah Rogers and to COSI for supporting this work.

In this installation, I have “overgrafted” multiple types of cacti to make our intertwined relationships more visible. I have included elements such as my own hair, the fur of rabbits, bird feathers, fake eyelashes and dead cactus spikes.

Special thanks to Espen Gangvik of Teks Trondheim Electronic Arts Centre, for supporting this project at the Hybrids Matchmaking exhibition in Trondheim, Norway, 2008.