Touch Some Grass
Marit Westerhuis
Saturday June 21 | 19.00 hrs.
“Touch some grass: a phrase used to suggest someone is out of touch with reality.”
Urban Dictionary
Materials: Acrylic, metal, stainless steel, Festuca Rubra grass, ventilators, glycerine, natural dye, silicone, microcontrollers, printed circuit boards, Raspberry Pi, formaldehyde.
In a future where real grass no longer grows, Marit Westerhuis’s Touch Some Grass imagines what it would be like if even the most ordinary parts of nature became rare, thus making touching grass a privileged experience. Inside an incubation chamber, blades of grass are kept alive with machines. Ventilators controlled by microcontrollers and software gently blow on them to mimic a summer breeze, and tubes feed them artificial nutrients.
The work reflects on our growing desire to escape reality, especially in times of crisis. With an impending climate catastrophe upon us, we long for nature, even if, paradoxically, it’s artificial and only exists for human gratification.
Creation co-produced with Chroniques, Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques and with the financial support of Mondriaan Fonds.
Engineering by: Steven Wobbes.
Photo: © Hugo Bougouin – Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques 2024