Darkroom Planting Experiment (2021—)
Photogram, soil, plant seed, sheet pots
Darkroom Planting Experiment is an artist’s farming project, an exploration of how photographs can be produced through a seed’s growing process, and an approach to creating an ever-living print that continues to grow and shift.
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The Greek word φῶς (phós) means light in English, which became the prefix for photography and photosynthesis. In general speaking, photo and plant are unrelated being, however, they have something essentially in common. Both of them live with light, and they bear their own fruit after a period of invisible time. The power of life and time is embodied in the fruit, while the whole reaction is unviewable.
In this project, I put the plant’s seed on the top of the film paper and let them grow together in the soil. The growing plant that breaks through the soil will share light for the paper below, while its growing process will be recorded in the paper.
Right: Darkroom Planting Experiment #007, sketch, Procreate, 2021
The Greek word φῶς (phós) means light in English, which became the prefix for photography and photosynthesis. In general speaking, photo and plant are unrelated being, however, they have something essentially in common. Both of them live with light, and they bear their own fruit after a period of invisible time. The power of life and time is embodied in the fruit, while the whole reaction is unviewable.
In this project, I put the plant’s seed on the top of the film paper and let them grow together in the soil. The growing plant that breaks through the soil will share light for the paper below, while its growing process will be recorded in the paper.
Right: Darkroom Planting Experiment #007, sketch, Procreate, 2021
Looking forward to seeing the birth of different Darkroom Plants, I spend a long time preparing, which is as important as the cultivation time. From whether the film paper could image normally to using more ways to produce better fruit, I work like a farmer who tries to plant new crops. Every round of the experiment takes a week or even half a month; however, I know that I touch the invisible life force in every second.
Experiment
#002, 003
Aims to confirm how long the paper retains its exposure function.
Darkroom Plant specimen #002-2,
ILFORD Multigrade V RC DELUXE PEARL, photogram, 2021.
Darkroom Plant specimen #003-2,
ILFORD Multigrade Art 300, photogram, 2021.
ILFORD Multigrade Art 300, photogram, 2021.
Darkroom Planting Experiment
#004
Aims to confirm whether transparent paper bag helps produce better quality fruit.
Darkroom Plant specimen #004-1, 6, ILFORD Multigrade Art 300, photogram, 2021.
Darkroom Planting Experiment
#008
Aims to document fruit.
Darkroom Plant Specimen #008, ILFORD Multigrade Art 300, ILFORD Multigrade V RC DELUXE PEARL, photogram, 2021.