Grow Your Own Cloud develops an interactive installation showcasing plants encoded with data
Data is all around us, but what if digital data could be converted into a biological format? Grow Your Own Cloud (GYOC) blends nature and technology to understand data better. The 2020 creative residents at the Gingo Creative Residency has developed a research project that pursues the idea of “investigating data ecosystems across scales.” Created by artist and futurist Cyrus Clarke and interaction designer Monika Seyfried, the duo explores data and nature through its relationship with each other and its use as a public resource. According to the GYOC team, their latest project, Data Garden, tackles a “new type of data infrastructure” that fosters an environment that supports interaction and fusion between people, technology, and ecosystems.
GYOC explains on their site, “Within the installation, the plants’ DNA is decoded in real-time using the latest genetic sequencing technologies and displayed in space, revealing hidden messages. Working with nature to alleviate the threat of ‘data warming, ‘the Data Garden invites visitors to experience a new materiality around data and explore a world in which data storage is truly green and exists as an accessible public resource that is shareable within communities.”
Beyond its research methods, the project’s unique nature combines biological and technological processes that are constantly changing. Research and exploratory projects like Data Garden open up new opportunities for data to be interpreted and integrated into solving problems like climate change. Clarke and Seyfriend, along with the GYOC team have been busy showcasing their work as it continues to develops over time. In September, the duo recently worked on launching their latest iteration of Data Garden at Catch: Center for Art Design and Technology in Denmark.
