As one of the concluding events of the two-year Smart Hybrid Forms research project co-hosted by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Rietveld Academy, V2_, Zone2Source, and Waag, we are organizing an experimental symposium titled 'Tomato, Basil, Cucumber' during which we will attempt to lay bare the multiple ways people know and understand the humble vegetable.
Vegetable production could be considered the hidden frontier of technological futures at which values of wide-reaching societal and environmental effects are negotiated. The invited speakers-participants come from a variety of (professional) fields associated with plants, food or agriculture, but the point of entry and main reference for our discussion will be their particular experiences and practices with vegetables.
Throughout the 5-hour guided session we will collectively contextualize the field of vegetable production while focusing on how different practices impact the ontology of produce: how do ways of relating to veggies change according to who/what is caring for them and how they are eaten? What are the political implications of salad production? What counter-cultural connotations can overtly technological relationships to these companion plants bring?
About Smart Hybrid Forms
Smart Hybrid Forms is a three year research project supported by NWO, Rietveld Academy, V2_, Vrije Universiteit, Waag and Zone2Source.
The aim of Smart Hybrid Forms is the creation of a plant-cyborg: a novel entity fluent in data processing as well as photosynthesis and vegetative reproduction. Specifically, the aim is to create the first digital AI that thinks of itself as a plant. VU Amsterdam and Gerrit Rietveld Academie will conduct research, and work closely together with partners V2_, Zone2Source and Waag.
Want to know more about Smart Hybrid Forms? Visit our partners' events:
27 October V2_: Test_Lab: Smart Hybrid Forms
6 November Zone2Source: Smart Hybrid Forms with Spela Petric and Christiaan Zwanikken
