Ars Electronica Center
Level -3

Hylozoic Grove, 2008

Source: rubra

Canadian architect and artist Philip Beesley calls his sculpture “geotextile mesh,” that combines nature and technology within an electrokinetic intelligent machine. The installation contains a dense net of proximity sensors, microcontrollers and actuators. When visitors come close, “Hylozoic Grove” responds with waves of motion stirring the air and spreading over the whole structure.

What makes the encounter with “Hylozoic Grove” so striking is the symbiosis of organic forms of behavior with technological materials as well as the dialog that arises between the installation and the visitors—do you watch or are you being watched?

Credits:
Rob Gorbet (Engineering Director), Hayley Isaacs, Christian Joakim, Jonah Humphrey, Kirsten Robinson, Jon Cummings (Core Team), with Yoshikatsu Wachi, Manuel Kretzer, William Elsworthy, Eric Bury, David Blackmore, Lawrence Chan