12: KPIs and thesis completion timeline

What do you want? I want my dog to recover.

• express the poetry of relationality by collaborating on an interactive artwork with the soil itself
• position rocks as mamas that move in deep time, the soil as the child of the rock, and holes as a spirit, defined by the absence of material
  • rocks are the maternal material, weathered over millions of years to create soil
  • soil is the fragile child, facing degradation and erosion, and it is the connection between rock and all life.
  • holes, ontological parasites, are our spirit portal to the below-ground world
• engage animistic sensibilities towards rocks, critters, landscapes
• de-center the human / counter human exceptionalism
• raise topics around Anthropocene – Capitalocene – Chthulucene (for those who engage with Haraway’s work)
• produce social presence (the sense of being with another) of soil, rocks, and other nonhuman entities
• use screens as virtual cavities that suggest technology’s relationship to its maternal materials
  • indicates the mismatch of rates between the speed of extractions/burials of toxins and the speed of geological, deep time  by showing soil/rocks “using technology” without humans
  • relates media and geology as a relationship of speed/rhythm — the screen can be seen as a mineral activated at a very high rate but, if slow, becomes a mineral again
• use human presence via Butoh as a healing dance with nonhuman kin
• the transformations and pulses produced by the changing state of the soil result in a liberating, healing recognition of different temporalities and movements, nonhuman and non-living forces, both organic and inorganic
• surprise and move the observers by ways in which soil sensors shape the dynamics in p5.js sketches

What excites you, what terrifies you? 

I am excited about bringing the work together in a site-specific context. I am terrified that there is little time left and much to do. I also fear that the sensor input will pause/stop the animations or the video will not playback. 

How did presenting your work feel? 

I shared p5 simulations of how the interaction with soil will look. I also put together a page with info about the project: mariamaciak.com/soil.  Visitors engaged in conversations about multispecies relations, animism, and the ways that the interaction is being created. They wanted to see more. Also, Dan’O agreed to soil being brought to the ITP floor. Kudos to Craig for bringing this up 🙂

Web-experience presentation had its own challenges – is it a simulation of soil’s interaction or a witnessing, a live feed of soil’s impact? For the latter, I would need to make it sustainable so that anyone can tune into the interaction.

One of the surprising and welcomed comments was: “it feels like nature has usurped technology (the supposed anti-nature) to communicate and reveal itself. It is not clear who is acting upon who – human/ soil-rocks. Actually feels like these rocks and soil are the ones using technology – the human is being subsumed by it.“ 

What has changed since you last presented?

I revised the three sketches but more content work in collaboration with soil is needed. I also received additional advice regarding technical execution which made me more confused as it is different than earlier suggestions. (There are many ways to save the cat.) Everything is taking much longer, I am concerned about technical details.

RUBRIC

FULFILLED

SOMEWHAT FULFILLED

NOT FULFILLED

CONTENT

FORM

TOOLS / TECH

PRESENTATION

FULFILLED GOALS

Soil, Mama, and Spirit is presented on the ITP floor and runs as planned. The installation evokes animistic mentalities, relationality with nonhuman entities, and the post-anthropocene. The sound design complements the experience. Visitors contemplate the dynamism and magic of the microbiome as well as technology’s relationship to its maternal materials. Visitors sense communication soil’s impact on the images. They walk away inspired.

SOMEWHAT FULFILLED

Visitors are amused by the installation and some of them contemplate nonhuman entities and relationality with the more-than-human world. There are visitors who see no connection between content on the screens and animism or the post-anthropocene. 

NOT FULFILLED

The installation is not working as planned (sensor interaction and or animations/ audio). It does not evoke animistic mentalities. Visitors are confused; the installation does not conjure the dynamism of the microbiome, technology’s relationship to its maternal materials, multispecies relationality, nor human decentering. Things break.

TIMELINE (WIP)

Week of June 7

•  tech solutions / better understanding
  • miro.com/app/board/o9J_lI_Zv8c=/
  • meet YG to set up the RPi or a mac-mini
  • meet with Rob Ryan to secure location
• finalize content interactions

Week of June 14

• tech resolution
• hardware cases/ protection and cooling
• location logistics

Week of June 21

• install (soil transport and hardware)
• draft documentation/ website/ presentation

Week of June 28

• complete website & presentation