Developmental Work

Initial ideas and mind mapping:

Mushroom Synthesiser:

How do mushrooms play the modular synthesiser? They do so through bio data sonification. but also otherwise viewed as aleatoric or generative music. There is electrical resistance which is measured by passing a small current through the mushrooms the same way as what happens during a lie detector test. The changes in resistance are then converted into control signals. These control signals are what determine the pitch , rhythm, timbre and effects the parameter of the modular synthesiser.

Dj mushroom art created by me on procreate inspired by the mushroom synthesiser

Notes from Tutorial with Chris:

Project Direction:

Plantasia:

Plantasia is an electronic ambient album created by Mort Garson in 1976, which was specifically created for plants to listen to. Studies have shown that plants don't necessarily respond to the sounds of the music, but they respond to the vibrations. They suggest plant's cells move in response to the vibrations and therefore causing the plant to create more nutrients.

So far there's been a few studies shown that they respond better to more soothing music vibrations such as classical over heavier rock music, which create higher pressure vibrations.

However there isn't enough conclusive scientific studies to show the music helps the plants grow.

(A happy plant illustration I created on procreate inspired by the plantasia album!)

Maria Sibylla Merian:

Maria Sibylla Merian's work was shown in our module launch lecture and I found it most inspiring and relatable to the subjects I wanted to focus on in this module so I therefore did some more of my own research on her and her work.

Plants can feel you touching them:

Plants can feel you touch them, and unfortunately sometimes they do not like it. Scientists have found that plants are sensitive to touch of any kind, and there is even a word for this such as thigmomorphogenesis. Majority of the time the effect of touching them is not visible. However, it has been discovered that touching them can cause a dramatic response in their gene expression and hormones so much that it could substantially inhibit their growth.

One plant that does visibly respond to being touched is the Mimosa Pudica plant, which has it's fan like leaves close up immediately as you can see below.

Below is a short animation I created of the plant reacting to touch -

A few grumpy plants drawings inspired by their reaction to touch -

Experimenting with ink and string:

I recently came across a technique where artists dip some string in a bottle of ink and then lay it onto a page of a sketchbook, close it and then pull the string out to create beautiful patterns.

The patterns I created reminded me of trumpet vine flowers.

I used fine liner and watercolour to compliment the ink flowers.

Set one-

Set two-

Set three-

Gardening tools:

The right tools are obviously very important and handy for growing good crops and plants

I practised with some polymer clay to create a couple of gardening tools, and a mushroom!

(practised some skills on illustrator for the piece below) -

As well as tools, books on plant care are very important as it can get very difficult to keep up with all of the information as every plant's care is unique -

The sketches above inspired me to create this piece below I put together on procreate -

Practising and Experimenting With Lino Printing:

During this project I wanted to take the opportunity to experiment with some Lino and have felt inspired to carve a little mushroom print.

I unfortunately only own blue printing paint, so I had to use acrylic on some of the other prints and as you can see they didn't print too well, but I thought they would look sweet if I was to place some small drawings around and give them their own little narrative almost.

PLANTS AND GREEN WITCHCRAFT:

Plants and witchcraft go hand in hand with each other; ancient practises offer a supernatural physical link between the two. People turned to plants not just for food and medicine, but for a link to the spiritual realm as well. There's many types of witches but the ones that work most closely with plants and herbs are known as green witches. I thought it would be good research to look into some books that will tell me more information on them as I felt they would hold important information on growing perfect plants.

Whilst researching into some books on green witchcraft but I came across this book in particular which talks about the importance of Gardening by the moon and Zodiacs and I thought that was really interesting.

Applying modern understanding of the moon's gravitational and magnetics forces, the moon's four phases continues to tell us when to plant seeds and plants in the soil to get the best flavour, germination and highest yields.

More on Astrological Agriculture:

The moon spends 2.5 days in front of each zodiac sign. Each sign corresponds to an element which in turn corresponds to the best crops to plant at that time.

(Agricultural astrology chart ^ )

Moving forward with this project I felt inspired to create my own astrology agriculture chart, as when researching online there really wasn't too many available for visual understanding. I feel this still ties in with my initial concept of creating a guide for growing the perfect plant, as I originally wasn't even aware the impact that the moon and zodiacs affect harvest and plant growth as much as they do.

a happy witch with her perfect snake plant -

Below I did research on how you need mythology for understanding astrology, and I knew in witchcraft some witches have deities and goddesses they work with, however I didn't realise the connection was through astrology.

Ancient Mythology is essential for understanding Astrology !

The goddess or god that is paired with each zodiac sign proves it's essential for understanding astrology, considering each constellation represents a figure from ancient mythology.

Most astrologers base their studies on psychological observation, there is one alternative, which is where the deities play the ultimate role.

Mythology offers a background story to astrology. The ancient myths and history of astrology inspired astrologer and psychoanalyst Carl Jung to unite modern science and ancient practises in 1954, which became the birth of astrological archetype.

A piece inspired by the gods and goddesses of the zodiac constellations -

Demeter:

Demeter was the goddess of grain, harvest and agriculture alongside being the goddess of the earth's fertility. Demeter is assigned the zodiac constellation of virgo. Her cult titles include Sito, "she of the Grain", as the giver of food or grain. She revealed to man the art of growing and using corn. Although she was known as the goddess of harvest she was also the goddess of sacred law and the cycle of life and death.

Demeter was the mother of Persephone. Persephone was abducted from her by Hades, which she grieved and because of this grief her emotional upset had backlash on the earth where it became barren through her neglect. This is when she taught man how to harvest.

Persephone:

Persephone, who was the daughter of Demeter, was the goddess queen of the underworld, and was the goddess of vegetation. Persephone is assigned the zodiac constellation Capricorn. She was also the wife of the God Hades. Persephone went by other names such as Kore.

When Persephone was abducted by Hades, she was made to eat a pomegranate which was a fruit of the underworld, and myth says when you eat a fruit of the underworld you are forced to stay there.

This myth also further explains on why the seasons change due to Demeter's grief. Hades made Persephone stay with him for 6 months, and in these six months Demeter neglected the earth and no crops grew, which now represent Winter and Fall. However, when Persephone reunites with Demeter for six months, all of the crops grow again as Demeter is happy and these months represent Spring and Sumer.

Planning my Final Piece:

As Demeter and Persephone are the goddesses of harvest, agriculture and vegetation. I wanted to intertwine them with my own agricultural astrology chart as when researching into the charts, you cannot have astrology without mythology.

In the opposite corners of the goddesses I chose one of their symbols which I felt best resonated with the theme of the chart. In the left corner opposite Demeter, I chose the symbol of Wheat as it reflect her goddess agriculture rule and suited the chart. For Persephone, I chose the Pomegranate symbol for the same reason of it suiting the chart as it being a fruit crop.

I wanted the moon in the middle of the chart as I felt it tied the chart together, as the these crops are best to plant when the moon goes in front of the astrology signs around it.

Greek Typography Fonts:

As mythology originate from Ancient Greece, I thought it was fitting to use Greek lettering and typography for the type that will be on my agriculture chart. The few below are the ones that I preferred most, and I really liked their bold style.

I had a practice on procreate to see which Greek lettering and type style I preferred the most -

Finalised plan with added Greek type and lettering-

I somehow forgot to take photos of my process whilst creating this canvas, however I made a video edit of the process so thought I would share this instead -

My Finished Canvas

Acrylic and posca on a 27.5x19.5 inch canvas-