THE CONDITION 2015-16

Year
2015-16

Author
Laura Beloff & Jonas Joergensen

We have written an article about this work in 2016: Beloff, L. & Jørgensen J. (2016), The Condition: Towards Hybrid Agency, CULTURAL R>EVOLUTION: Proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium on Electronic Art. School of Creative Media, City University Hong Kong p. 14-19 6 p. (ISEA 2016 Proceedings). PDF is here

THE CONDITION (Beloff & Joergensen 2015-16)

The Condition (2015–2016) investigates the condition of living organisms situated within hybrid ecologies produced by the contemporary entanglement of technological, economic, biological, and cultural forces. The installation consists of twelve rotating boxes arranged in a 3 × 4 matrix, each containing a cloned Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana). The speed and direction of each box are controlled by a self-organizing map algorithm driven by real-time space weather data, creating an ever-changing choreography shaped by processes far beyond the immediate environment.

Recent decades have seen an acceleration of developments at the intersection of technology and biology. Processes once regarded as "natural" have become increasingly modifiable and deeply entangled with technological infrastructures. The Condition explores the adaptability of an organism to altered living conditions and examines the complex assemblages that emerge when a culturally defined biological organism becomes intertwined with robotics, computational systems, and information technologies.

The project originated in research into the cloning of Christmas trees in Denmark and raised a central question: How is a perfect, commercially successful Christmas tree defined? The answer reveals that the logic of cloning extends beyond biology and technology into the cultural domain. The criteria for selecting superior trees are primarily aesthetic, based on visual form and conformity to consumer expectations. Cultural tradition and aesthetic preference thus become decisive forces governing the reproduction and controlled existence of this biological organism.

The cloned Nordmann firs are housed in custom-built rotating plant boxes mounted on the wall. The work draws on the history of plant physiology research, particularly the clinostat, a scientific instrument designed to negate the effects of gravity on plant development through continuous rotation. Traditionally, a clinostat rotates a horizontally mounted plant, effectively averaging the directional influence of gravity over time. By appropriating this experimental device, The Condition relocates the Christmas tree from the plantation and laboratory into a speculative technological environment where biological growth is subjected to algorithmic control and extraterrestrial data.

The installation asks what forms of ecology emerge where technological evolution, biological life, and human intention converge. It proposes the Christmas tree as both cultural icon and experimental organism, suspended between agriculture, automation, and space science. Ultimately, The Condition asks a deceptively simple question: How might a Christmas tree survive in space? Through this thought experiment, the work reflects on adaptation, control, and the increasingly hybrid conditions under which contemporary life unfolds.