PLANTENKERE (plant thinkers) ’11

SEE VIDEO DOCUMENTATION HERE:
https://vimeo.com/155250422

PLANTENKERE or “PLANT THINKERS” (2011) is an ongoing project that investigates the impact of artificially active embeded thought on plant health over time. Microcontrollers are programmed with text strings and embedded into the bases of the plants. Three plants “think” “negative” thoughts, and the second set of three plants “thinks” “positive” thoughts (as defined by Masaru Emoto). These thoughts were actually re-appropriated from Emoto’s frozen water experiments. When Emoto spoke these sentences to the water, and then froze that water to analyze the water crystal formation, Emoto reveals photographs from his findings. Emoto states that the formation of the crystals from the positively impacted water results 
in geometrically symetrical and “beautiful” crystals, while the negatively impacted water results in random arrays of crystals where no symmetrical or “beautiful” result occurs. Plantenkere investigates whether or not embedding or automating our thoughts and wishes amplifies the effect of positive and negative thoughts on the physical health of plants. These plants were analyzed over the course of six weeks at which time I stopped watering them to see what happened. Following the last ten days without water, but with microcontrollers, the negative thought plants were browned, lost almost all the leaves, and in the case of one plant rotted, while the plants impacted by positive thought were as I left them, as if I had just watered them a few days before.
I am now beginning double blind studies with this project and a few variations of this project. One for instance uses the same method with microcontrollers with seed pods rather than full grown plants to see if there is more visible effect on younger plants.

Plantenkere (2011) exhibited at the Songzhuan Art Festival in Beijing as well as the Linda Jordan Gallery in Washington DC alongside the Wishing Well project. In both instances the plants with the negative messages wilted and almost died before the opening events.