" Internal Garden " is an active research project carried out by UK sound artist Justin Wiggan. Working with the Italian company Music of The Plants' device MU1 , Justin explored the signals registered from various plants biometric data. By deciphering and registering the impulses and interactions of plants, they have developed a device that uses a MIDI interface to transform the impedance from a leaf to the root system of a plant into music.
So intrigued by the results of his experiments of this device, which gives voice to plant perception, he wanted to push his connection with plant life furthermore.This resulted in the experiment with sending the plants signal from the device into his Body, as an immersive physical dimensional field.This was achieved by connecting the MU1 to a Subpac.
A SUBPAC is a wearable technology that pulses sound through the body mass with three layers of immersion by haptics vibrations of surface on skin, proprioceptive registration of changes in force, and pressure and bone conduction. The experiment was successful; plant and person became one.
It's Justin's focus to adapt this approach of new perception of delicate inter species languages, which impacts on the participants health and awareness about the consciousness of nature.
The first research experiments were carried out in Cornwall at the Fish Factory Art's Space for a handful of people, to experience the sonification and vibrational energy of plants. The reactions have now given way to a structural application. Being written for the use of the technology, to be used in places which nature cannot be accessed so easily (prisons, etc.) to facilitate memory health about green spaces.
The recordings here are the fourth set of experiments.
June 28th 1884 - Dec 3rd 1996
"Internal Garden: Research Collection Four" explores the romantic theme of the possibility of experiential memory contained in the physical structures of cacti.
Considering permeation of physical and emotional experiences that can be transferred from wild locations into domestic places. Four example if Waitrose balls a cactus from the desert into the home all the cactus release contained energy from its previous location. Does that mean the promotional architecture and psychological energy from the taxes experience permeate into the home, or its new location?
I become fascinated with organic matter being treated almost like tape recorders, could you put cacti in the environments of highly tense and emotional strain and allow them to soak up the energy field therefore redirecting away from ourselves?
Your explanation with his body of work is the idea of removal from place location the demarcation from body and mind. Do plants suffer from home sickness? Do plants suffer from Nostalgia?
Interestingly enough to my research and exploring notions of the nostalgia, it seems that the cactus physically embodies symbolically the emotive psychological and mental aspects of what nostalgia stands for. With this in mind I ask the listener to consider that there are issues of the standard homesickness whilst listening to this work . And also if possible for further deeper emotive connection please use a SubPac vest.
All sounds in this work being produced by Cacti
Hiraeth (pronounced [hiraɪ̯θ][1]) is a Welsh word which means 'nostalgia', or, more commonly, 'homesickness'. Many Welsh people claim 'hiraeth' is a word which cannot be translated, meaning more than solely "missing something" or "missing home." To some, it implies the meaning of missing a time, an era, or a person. It is associated with the bittersweet memory of missing something or someone, while being grateful of that/ their existence. Hiraeth bears considerable similarities with the Portuguese concept of saudade (a key theme in Fado music), Galician morriña, Romanian dor, Russian toska (тоска), German Sehnsucht and Ethiopian tizita (ትዝታ).
Hiraeth is a difficult word to translate precisely. It, the Cornish hireth and the Breton hiraezh are said to be the only exact equivalents of the Portuguese saudade [1].
A cactus (plural: cacti, cactuses, or cactus)[3] is a member of the plant family Cactaceae,[Note 1] a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales.[4] The word "cactus" derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek κάκτος, kaktos, a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is not certain.[5] Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth. Cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. Almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of leaves, enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis. Cacti are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north—except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which also grows in Africa and Sri Lanka.
Cactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch. Areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular and multipetaled. Many cacti have short growing seasons and long dormancies, and are able to react quickly to any rainfall, helped by an extensive but relatively shallow root system that quickly absorbs any water reaching the ground surface. Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by long drought periods. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a special mechanism called "crassulacean acid metabolism" (CAM) as part of photosynthesis. Transpiration, during which carbon dioxide enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis, but instead occurs at night. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, and only then using it in photosynthesis. Because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced.
Many smaller cacti have globe-shaped stems, combining the highest possible volume for water storage, with the lowest possible surface area for water loss from transpiration. The tallest[Note 2] free-standing cactus is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m (63 ft),[6] and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter at maturity.[7] A fully grown saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) is said to be able to absorb as much as 200 U.S. gallons (760 l; 170 imp gal) of water during a rainstorm.[8] A few species differ significantly in appearance from most of the family. At least superficially, plants of the genus Pereskia resemble other trees and shrubs growing around them. They have persistent leaves, and when older, bark-covered stems. Their areoles identify them as cacti, and in spite of their appearance, they, too, have many adaptations for water conservation. Pereskia is considered close to the ancestral species from which all cacti evolved. In tropical regions, other cacti grow as forest climbers and epiphytes (plants that grow on trees). Their stems are typically flattened, almost leaf-like in appearance, with fewer or even no spines, such as the well-known Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus (in the genus Schlumbergera).
Cacti have a variety of uses: many species are used as ornamental plants, others are grown for fodder or forage, and others for food (particularly their fruit). Cochineal is the product of an insect that lives on some cacti. Many succulent plants in both the Old and New World – such as some Euphorbiaceae (euphorbias) – bear a striking resemblance to cacti, and may incorrectly be called "cactus" in common usage.
Giddy music that could easily score a playful Nintendo game, these are bright, chirpy melodies designed to bring a smile. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 3, 2023
