Photodotes: Light Garden

Can structure and landscape occupy equally space? Is the border between them blurred? Junya Ishigami has addressed these questions through a series of installations. Many other architects have also discussed similar issues regarding the famous "nature-structure couple" theoretically and in-practice. At the same time, schools like Harvard Graduate School of Design, have lately emphasized landscape design in their curriculum to a point where architecture and structures disappear to give their place to landscape, geography, earth and food.

In the same context, The Garden Lab at MassArt is an experimental project, a garden space and platform, where all students and the community-at-large can engage in an open conversation about art, design, food, community, and the environment. Under this umbrella, it hosted yesterday (March 14th) Photodotes (Light Donors) workshop as an opportunity to rethink living (and perhaps edible) structures, materials and the immaterial, light as energy, and the use of technology in architecture and gardens. The target of the intense, hands-on workshop was the collaborative construction of a hybrid structure/ 3d-garden that would consist of plants, fiberoptics, plastic containers, water and light.
Figure 01. Plants mixed with fiberoptics. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 02. Photodotes: Light Garden at the end of the workshop. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe
The enthusiastic and extra-creative participants initially created and presented their personal sub-structures by sculpting the containers each one with different criteria or manifestos: to allow growth towards different directions, to follow the form and the intentions of the plant, to help the plant co-exist with other plants, to "force" symmetrical development, to create vertical planting, to change the functions were few of the ideas. Could these sculptures become new "bricks" towards the creation of a living (and perhaps edible) structure?

Figure 03. Rethinking materiality or possible new "brick"? Plastic containers (reused), water, roots, fiberoptics, light. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

The hybrid structure, with the potential name  "Light garden,"  has the special feature of bringing light in the roots via fiberoptics. This idea has emerged and developed during Zitofos (meaning Light Lives among many other things), a workshop that took place in Alexandroupolis, Greece during last summer in collaboration with MIT Art, Culture and Technology. Zitofos workshop has been the instigator of a research on spatial light that has been documented in the Zitofos platform. Part of the experimentation has been expressed in Photodotes I currently on show at Brant Gallery until May 7th.


Figure 04. Experiment to hypothesize how fiberoptics inserted in the water affect growth. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 05. Refunctioning ingredients towards the making of a living wall. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 06. Light inserted in the water via the fiberoptic cables in order to help the growth of the plant.  Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 07. Participants scuptured the recycling containers in a unique way to allow plants to develop in multiple directions, to co-evolve, and to grow better. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 08. Vertical growth of different plants. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 09. Each plant is linked to at least one optic fiber that emits light at its end. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe
The second part of the workshop included the collaborative assembly of the individual garden clusters towards the creation of one "circular" garden-space. The collaborative character of the installation registered individual craftsmanship and signature expression of each author.

Figure 10. The "circular" garden-space or a possible living structure.  Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe

Figure 11. The happy result. Photo credits: Dominic Tschoepe


More info:
Zitofos platform on spatial light.

Project Credits: 
Idea and project instigator: Zenovia Toloudi
Research: Zenovia Toloudi, George Toloudis, Ute Meta Bauer (MIT Art, Culture and Technology)
Photography: Dominic Tschoepe, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Zenovia Toloudi
Light Garden Collaborators: Dominic Tschoepe, Amir Banihashem, Dimitris Papanikolaou
Exhibition Curators: Evelyn Rydz, Jonathan Santos
Workshop assistants: Yamilah Kenny, Christian Keebler Restrepo
Participants: Lydia See, Brianna Dawes, Juliet Demasi, Colin Cardinal, Anika Catterfield, Georgia Kennedy, Julie Chen, Hayden Lemire

Note: This article was initially published at SHIFTboston, with the exception of Figure 11

experiment_102: scallions [one week progress]

Figure 01. The scallions found in the bucket accepting more light due to the fiberoptics light emission (left) has grown more than the other one with regular (room) light. Photo taken on March 14th.

Figure 02. Equal length of the two plants. Photo taken on March 7th.

For more info about this experiment, read experiment_102.

experiment_104: hybrid structure

Figure 01. A hybrid of water, glass bowl, light, fiberoptics, and rhizhoma.

Figure 02. A hybrid of water, glass bowl, light, fiberoptics, and rhizhoma.

Figure 03. A hybrid of water, glass bowl, light, fiberoptics, and rhizhoma.

Figure 04. A hybrid of water, glass bowl, light, fiberoptics, and rhizhoma.

Figure 05. A hybrid of water, glass bowl, light, fiberoptics, and rhizhoma.

Experiment_104:
For this experiment we want to test whether a new "brick" can be born, to be used in structures, that will be a hybrid of water, glass bowl, light, fiberoptics, and rhizhoma.
Items used in this experiment: vases, scallions, water, fiberoptics, light, paper clips, Eye-bowl.

experiment_103: stealing light II

Figure 01. The two vases with the rhizhoma and the MassArt "Eye bowl" with another rhizhoma.

Figure 02. Black fiberoptics stealing light from the vase that has extra artificial light (initially transmitted via the transparent fiberoptics).

Figure 03. Black fiberoptics stealing light from the vase and transmitting into the MassArt "Eye Bowl."

Figure 04. The MassArt "Eye Bowl" with stolen light from the vase.

Figure 05. The MassArt "Eye Bowl" positioned in a darker area in order for the light to be seen.

Figure 06. The 'in-between" transaction station, the vase, with its rhizhoma and the two fiberoptics cables: transparent to bring light, and black to absorb light.

Experiment_103:
For this experiment we wanted to test whether one vase of water can act as in-between station to transmit light from one fiberoptics to another.
Items used in this experiment: vases, scallions, water, transparent fiberoptics, black fiberoptics, artificial light, paper clips, hydrophonics.

experiment_102: scallions

Figure 01. The scallions were positioned into two same vases, filled with water.

Figure 02. One of the vase accepted artificial light trasmitted via the transparent fiberoptics.

Figure 03. The two scallions' rhizoma, in the vases, one (left) supported by the fiberoptics light transmission.

Figure 04. The one vase (with the scallion) without the fiberoptics.

Figure 05. The other vase (with the scallion) with the fiberoptics.

Experiment_102:
For this experiment we want to test whether the fiberoptics trasmitting light in one of the two vases filled with water, can help the scallions' rhizhoma to grow faster (and better). This experiment has a quantitative nature. It is an ongoing one. The experiment started on Wednesday March 7th at approximately 1pm.
Items used in this experiment: vases, scallions, water, transparent fiberoptics, artificial light, paper clips.

experiment_101: stealing light

Figure 01. One edge of the fiberoptics is collecting light from Photodotes I. In a way the origmai structure becomes the in-between station where light arrives from the big fiberoptics and departs from the small towards the bowl. The light "sparkle" is natural light arriving in the gallery at approximately 1:30pm.

Figure 02. Natural light is being transmitted via the fiberoptics into the MassArt "Eye-bowl" filled with water. This experiment, along with other similar ones, hypothesizes that the scallions' rhizhoma will collect the light for its growth.

Experiment_101:
For this experiment we wanted to test whether we can collect light indirectly from the area where light is being diffused. This experiment is part of a series of experiments, where the big fiberoptic to transmit light from the roof to the gallery, can be subdivided to smaller fiberoptics to be used for smaller activities. In this case the light arriving at the Origami structure is not sub-divided:part of it is "lost in space" and part is being transmitted to the bowl. SImilarly to experiment_100, we worked with scallions' rhizhoma that can grow with the method of hydroponics.

Items used in this experiment: fiberoptics, multi-color grow light, rhizhoma, water, MassArt "eye-bowl" container.

experiment_100: multi-color grow light

Figure 01. Red color light collection through fiberoptics.

Figure 02. Blue color light collection through fiberoptics.

Figure 03. Light being transmitted at the MassArt "eye-bowl" container filled with water.

Figure 04: LED panel light source used in an experiment on plant growth by NASA. Pictured plant is a potato plant. Photo source: Wikipedia

Experiment_100:
For this experiment we wanted to test whether the colorful grow light (instead of the simple Sodium-Vapor Lamps-HPS lamps) can be transmitted to the bowl via fiberoptics. According to wikipedia regarding Grow Light: Red spectrum light may trigger a greater flowering response in plants. If high pressure sodium lights are used for the vegetative phase, plants grow slightly more quickly, but will have longer internodes, and may be longer overall" and "Blue spectrum light may trigger a greater vegetative response in plants". Also, "Different stages of plant growth require different spectra. The initial vegetative stage requires blue spectrum of light, whereas the later "flowering" stage is usually done with red–orange spectra." In the experiment we worked with scallions' rhizhoma that can grow with the method of hydroponics.
Items used in this experiment: fiberoptics, multi-color grow light, rhizhoma, water, MassArt "eye-bowl" container.