Minso Kim Portfolio
Pot No.5
Method : Interactive prototypical design installation
Size : 8 x 12 x 8 (in)
Year : 2019
Pot No.5 is a designed artwork for living spaces in the near future. It functions as an ‘alt-plant’ which moves in unexpected directions, changing its forms according to a user’s physical interaction with it. The project began with the question, “What if the feeling of being in or close to nature could be sensed while situated in indoor spaces, even though no actual living things are there?”
Nature in this project implies the nuances of plants. The nuances of plants are related to the inconspicuous signs of the plant which generate a phenomenon called ‘plant-blindness’. Such phenomena appear because static vegetation-- moss and trees-- is easily dismissed due to their subtle movements and ethereal senses, compared to more animated living species-- insects and animals. In this project, I would like to draw attention to the plant-blindness issue.
Pot No.5 is predicated on the assumptions of having no or limited access to the natural environment. Such situations happen when self-isolated home, and also when on an interstellar craft. Accordingly, viewers of Pot No.5 are invited to question their own ‘plant-blindness’, while reflexively interrogating their feelings (both pleasant and strang) about the ‘alt-plant’.
This project is small enough to be handheld. Yet, a bigger version of the work will allow for the investigation of how we understand the physiological relationship between human and nature, and what makes nature feel like nature.