The flower voice is heard by my soul, I can see how is blooming. Voz marchita is a piece in which the flower produces the sounds depending on its states. For example, if the flower needs water, you will hear noise. The piece functions in 2 ways, the flower will create a soundscape making it an interpreter and the second is to take care of the plant.  Moreover, the sounds produced by the flower are sounds that are comfortable for it, therefore, the sounds are taking care of the plant.

Voz marchita is a piece that works as an interactive nature sound sculpture because the sound is completely linked to the behaviour of the plant. The plant is been monitored by different sensors controlled by Arduino, such as; temperature, air quality, humidity, light and so on. Moreover, 4 capacitive sensors are connected in different areas of the plant. The capacitive sensors detect when someone touches the plant and send the data to Arduino. Also, the 4 capacitive sensors are measuring the magnetic field of the plant, for example when the plant is sleeping the magnetic field is low, when the plant is exited or stressed the magnetic field is high. Moreover, the 4 capacitive sensors allowed the people to interact with the plant, when they touch the plant, the magnetic field of the plant changes. Then, all the data is collected in the computer in real-time and transformed into sounds.

The sound has two functions. First, the sounds indicate us the state of the plant, for example when the plant needs water, it starts to produce white noise, indicating also how much water it needs, when the white Noise disappears completely the plant has enough water, or when the Plant is sleeping the sound activity decrease considerably.

Second, the sounds are actually controlled by the plant. I code in Supercollider a program that collects the data from Arduino and Supercollider reads it in order to control different parameters. The sounds I choose were different improvisations I did on the Piano, E-Guitar and Supercollider. I expose the plant to these sounds and I measure with which sound the plant felt more comfortable. Therefore, the state of the plant is controlling the behaviour of the sound files. Finally, when the audience touches the plant, the sound behaviour changes, making the plant interacting with the audience with sounds.

The technical realization works on small and large scale, for example with one or 2 plants or with a complete garden.

Concept, programming and realization: Wingel Mendoza

Plant/ performer: Hydrange || Ficus Robusta