Can Trees Sing?
We’ve all heard the expression stop and smell the roses. But artist David Robert asks us to stop and listen to the roses.
I learned about the natural explorations of artist David Robert in the “inspirational series” by Bassett & Partners, an ethnographic research firm based out of San Francisco. The company makes these short, inspirational films to just get you to think about the world a little differently (you can sign up for the email list to receive them—it’s free).
The artist himself was inspired by turn-of-the-century botanical experiments, particularly an Indian scientist who declared that plants are sentient beings—they grow toward the sun, some of them respond to touch, and overall they make decisions to survive. The only difference is, plants operate on a different time scale, and we don’t have the time or patience to notice.
In a brilliant mix of art, nature and technology, David Robert has created a way for us to stop and listen to trees. Using electrodes, Robert re-routed the bio-electrical signal of plants and trees when they move, and turns it into sound, so we are actually listening to the movement of trees. There is no time like the present for artists to address the alarming issue of environmental destruction, and Robert’s artistic experiments definitely force us to think about plants more sympathetically.
To learn more about David Robert and his fascinating Singing Trees projects, watch the video here.
2 years ago | Tags: art nature art installation environmental issues David Robert nature art environment
