Rooted in Reality:
An AR Exploration of Plant Life and the Politics of Gardens
Coursework
Constructing Immersive Virtual Worlds
Year
03/27/2022
OVERVIEW
I'm excited to introduce a project I completed for our Lab 3: “Physical Space and Device-Based Immersion." In this project, I used AR mobile device tools to create an immersive experience that engages and challenges users.
TOOLS
Autodesk Maya, Adobe Aero
THE CHALLENGE
The task was to reflect upon the politics, sensations, and experiences in a specific physical site and respond. I was to select a site along the path from the front steps of the Duke Chapel into the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, and engage with the site in a thoughtful and reflective manner. I considered the politics at play, the social element of spatial occupation, and how technology allows us to design hybrid mixed-sensation projects.
CREATIVE DIRECTION
I explored the power dynamics between humans and plants, challenging human dominance over the latter while walking through the Duke Gardens.
Humans tend to view plants from a human perspective, looking for visible signs of life, but even in winter, plants undergo processes that sustain themselves. Gardens are highly controlled spaces, and I attempted to challenge this control by placing plant models in scattered ways throughout the garden, but ultimately relocated them to a bus stop to confront human foot traffic.
The project reveals the precariousness of our perceived dominance over plants and the idea becomes more visible when plants are blatantly present in human spaces.
EXPLORED SPECIES
