A Conservator Gardening

When Morgan Stricot crosses the Media Museum bearing potting soil and plant pots, the looks on the visitor’s faces is one of bemusement.

BY DENISE ROTHDIENER

In the midst of sounds, iPads and flickering screens, one is left with little alternative other than to conclude that a gardener must have lost her way. Here, the conservator from Avignon is on her way to attend the installation entitled “Interactive Plant Growing”. The work by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau forms part of the ZKM Collection and counts among the pioneering art works of interactive media art. Five different plants wish to be touched by the visitors. Through their movements and warmth floral patterns grow at the same time on an expansive screen. Morgan Stricot offers an explanation the functionality of the art work, and goes on to describe the kind of hurdles that have to be overcome in digital conservation.