YUSHIEN  archive

In her poem The Silence of Plants, Polish poet Wisława Szymborska reflects on the asymmetrical relationship between humans and the vegetal world, writing, “Though my curiosity is unrequited, I gladly stoop for some of you, and for others I crane my neck.” This line speaks to the enduring mystery of plant consciousness and the human desire to connect with nonhuman life. Scientific research increasingly suggests that plants, though lacking a nervous system, are responsive to light, sound, touch, emotional states, and environmental threats. They are observant and sensitive to their surroundings—traits often associated with sentient beings.

This project explores these questions through the creation of a bionic bonsai—a sculptural tree made of wire that, though devoid of organic life, is able to respond to light through cybernetic systems. Experiment 1 serves as a speculative probe into the blurred boundaries between the organic and the inorganic, consciousness and simulation. By invoking cybernetics and interactive systems, the project questions whether subjective experience and awareness require a biological substrate, or whether they can emerge from technologically mediated environments.

Ultimately, this work invites viewers to reconsider the nature of perception, embodiment, and the ontological status of artificial life forms. It challenges the dualisms of controller and receiver, animate and inanimate, proposing instead a more integrated model in which all elements participate in a feedback-driven system of relational awareness.