Plantationocene (2025)

Date: 2025
Medium: Clay-based polymer, Wheat-based polymer, Acrylic panels, Custom LED matrix, internet connected PC, Python-script, surveyor tripod, 3D-printed mounts, power supply units. 
Dimensions: 180cm (h) x 125cm (w) x 125cm (d)

Plantationocene (2025) is an electronic sculptural assemblage that produces a dynamic landscape vista. A surveyor’s tripod is the mounting hardware for for a Default Landscape asset from the popular 3D modelling software Blender, which has been 3D printed with clay-infused plastic. This clay features a field of 3D printed wheat forms, which are fabricated using a plastic co-product made from real wheat. They stand in front of a backdrop consisting of a custom fabricated LED lighting array which is producing a ‘sky’ in a mode similar to rear-projection sound stages in mid-20th century cinema production. The colours of the led lighting are being constantly updated using realtime video streams of Earth broadcast live from the International Space Station. The live video of Earth from space that produces the sky colour in the backdrop means that the blue we see is actually the blue of the oceans as seen from low orbit. The ISS orbits the planet every 90 minutes, meaning the sky is rapidly shifting from luscious blues into darkness. The title Plantationocene is one of the contested names alongside anthropocene and capitalocene which stakes a claim that planetary-scale human agricultural domination is having geological scale effects on the environment.