Fillip Studios takes Arabidopsis Symphony to Tokyo (Japan)
04 juli 2023
Our digital plants had a wonderful time in Tokyo. Arabidopsis Symphony was exhibited at an International Conference and grew its roots throughout the streets of the metropolis.
International Conference on Arabidopsis Research
Our co-founders, Tom Kortbeek and Roos Meerman, traveled to Tokyo, where they attended the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research. They presented Arabidopsis Symphony, our installation based on data from the Arabidopsis plant. Visitors – who consisted mainly of scientists – experienced the inner life of this simple plant in a new way.
A new environment for our digital plants
The Arabidopsis plant responds instantly to changes in its environment. Complex adaptations in genes and hormones cause this. Although the plant grows all across Europe, America and Asia, its ability to adapt to changes makes it behave differently everywhere. The sound of the installation also highlights this. During our visit to Tokyo, the temperatures were relatively high, and at the end of the week, a significant downpour of rain presented itself. These conditions resulted in slightly larger leaves and changes in the soundscape.
Fillip Studios’ composer Siebe de Vries explains, “The changes in composition originate from different circumstances like temperature, time of day and type of weather. The changes in musical structure, sound, volume and other digital musical parameters are linked to different data collections collected by plant physicist Dr.ir Sander van der Krol from Wageningen University. As a result, the Arabidopsis plant can create endless amounts of musical possibilities and changes for every composition. When experiencing Arabidopsis Symphony, each plant translates into its own individual part, like a musician in an orchestra.”
We were amazed by the magnitude of Tokyo and the endless inspiration the place and the people offered us. We’re grateful for the invitation to bring and exhibit our work in the impressive city. We thank ICAR23, the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo and Ryuta Aoki for the warm welcome and for sharing their connections.
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For more information or high-res images of Arabidopsis Symphony, please send an email to Jonne (jonne@fillipstudios.com).