Questions for the Curious Orchard
-- October 12, 2023
ERC-721 | Total: 0009
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Questions for the Curious Orchard
DMX Fans, Fabric, LED Light, Refurbished Barrels, Sound
“Questions for the Curious Orchard” by Nate Mohler, is a site-specific public art installation commissioned for Code:Art 2023 in Palo Alto which saw over 13,000 attendees.Inspired by how trees communicate with each other through their root systems and mycelium networks, “Questions for the Curious Orchard” explores the similarities between digital/code systems and systems found in Nature. Just as energy within complex networks is exchanged between living beings such as the contagiousness of laughter or trees communicating in a forest, the installation invites visitors to gift something to it that will in turn feed energy into the biome and ripple throughout the installation. The Orchard features 17 hand sewn fabric trees inflated by a network of special DMX fans and lights sharing power with one another and deflating depending on the presence of people moving about. “Inspired by the inflatable tube men, I wanted to explore a playful and interactive sculpture using both code and natural elements such as wind and light as a means to animate the tree systems and create a method of communication between human and tree.” - Nate Mohler
2019
More about Code:Art “The City of Palo Alto Public Art Program will launch its third interactive media art festival, Code:ART, a three-evening event on October 12-14, 2023, 5-10 p.m., which will re-imagine Palo Alto’s underutilized plazas, alleys, and public spaces through interactive light, sound, and motion. The festival will feature the major interactive temporary media artwork Questions for the Curious Orchard by California artist Nate Mohler. The artwork will have sensors responding to visitor inputs activating the installation and will anchor the festival on King Plaza. Six smaller Urban Interventions will activate downtown plazas, alleys, parking lots or blank walls in new and inventive ways. These artworks will include dynamic projections, immersive installations, responsive sounds, lights, and game-based experiences.”
Team
Nate Mohler - Artist Lead
Ruben Jimenez - LED Fabrication / Power Specialist
Will Michaelsen - Creative Technologist
Pete Thorbury - LED Specialist
Cassid Salvetti - Installation
Nick Mohler - Installation
Drew Kennedy
Kolten Horner
Josie Dominique
Luke Mombrea - Sound Design
Special Thanks to the City of Palo Alto Public Art Program for hosting Code:Art and commissioning the installation.
Elise DeMarzo
Nadya Chuprina
Denise Laxen di Zazzo
Photos by
Courtney Kinnare, Saylor Nedelman
Video by Yuito Kimura
Concept Renders
Test Build