AIR CULTURE

AIR CULTURE lab is an in situ part of the ongoing design research project AIR CULTURE that Sarah Daher and Eva have been working on together since 2015.

Plants communicate not only through the soil and mycelial systems, but through the air as well, sending messages by releasing airborne chemical molecules. AIR CULTURE lab proposes a new way of harvesting and working with these natural compounds where living plants combined with technology can provide us with personalized air, enriched with specific medicinal properties. This enriched air full of meaning, can have different impacts on our physical and psychological well-being, depending on the plant species, it's community, environmental and cosmic conditions and life cycle of the plant.

AIR CULTURE is an interdisciplinary project crossing the borders of design and science, technology and ecology. It involves different fields of research such as Plant Neurobiology (also called Plant Behaviour and Communication), Pharmacognosy (the study of medicinal drugs derived from plants), Chemistry and Aromacology. By connecting these different fields and expanding your field of consciousness, design can stimulate holistic research and bring up new realities that address latent needs.

Air is the most effective medium of interaction and communication for plants. Acknowledging plants as socially living beings, their volatile emissions and their chemical vocabulary will not only change our naïeve perspective and  the way we relate to plants but also the way we perceive and consume air. AIR CULTURE is a starting point to question the value of plant communication through air, and propose a future scenario where volatile emissions from plants consciously become part of our daily lives.

AIR CULTURE is a speculative project that envisions a future where air possibly becomes a new commodity. It's a critical note to the underestimated role of plants in society and the predominant perception of plants as passive resources towards a new paradigm: a collaborative future between humans and nature. Air is one of the most effective mediums of interaction and communication for plants. Through the air, they are sensing and releasing chemical molecules, VOCs, as airborne messages. These molecules are widely known to impact the physiology of other living organisms such as other plants, insects and herbivores. But what about humans? In fact most of these compounds are beneficial to human wellbeing so rather then harvesting plants for extracting these valuable compounds, we recognize plants as highly intelligent and sentient beings, who respond to input from their environment and other beings. We recognize that these chemical responses consequently alter the atmospheric properties in such a way that it is beneficial to us as it is for our other kin.

What are VOCs?

VOCs are organic compounds with low molecular weight that can easily turn into vapor at ambient temperature. They can be divided into Anthropogenic VOCs that are chemicals released from materials such as paints and resins which are harmful to Nature and human health, and Biogenic which are naturally occurring VOCs and produced by plants and other living beings used as a signaling strategy.

Plant Air Alchemy

Plants not only have the ability to produce oxygen (as discovered in the 18th century) and the ability to purify the air by removing harmful VOCs (as discovered by NASA in the 20th century) but in the 21st century researchers are unveiling the capacity of plants to add specific chemicals what they call plant atmospheric effect. Plants are  living alchemists.

Plant VOCs Secondary Metabolites

There are signaling molecules (semiochemicals) defined as secondary metabolites. Their role is to transport chemical information thought the air, mediating complex and dynamic interactions with their environment. Through VOCs plants engage in plant-plant and plant-animal airborne chemical dialogue. Through this chemical communication they attract pollinators, repel harmful insects and animals, attract predators of their foes and warn other plants about possible danger. These information-carrying molecules have an important role in plant adaptation and survival in a constantly changing environment. It allows them to approach problems as a community and work in a collaborative, a reciprocal system.

PHYTOCHEMICALS

We worked on a case study with Rosmarinus officinalis. Some phytochemicals are known to have an impact in Acetylcholine, which the principal neurotransmitter in our brain, responsible for firing synapses. Once we have more Acetylcholine, we accelerate and increase the synapses and so, stimulating our brain performance. Rosemary's volatile oil has three major constituents and three of its minor constituents with this property, therefore making this plant a very powerful tool for our brain. Rosemary volatiles can present more then eight chemical compounds but it major constituents are alpha-pinene, 1,8 cionele and camphor where the minor constituents are myrcene, rosmarinic acid, ursolic, verbenone. (Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver, 2012)

CHEMOTYPES

Plants produce a vast array of chemical compounds with unique properties that they use to communicate and cope with their environment. When the environment changes plant chemistry changes accordingly to adapt. This means that the same species of plants in different environmental circumstances will have different production of secondary metabolites which means a variation on their chemical composition. For example a plant growing in the French high Alps produces very different (secondary) metabolites than the same plant growing in a field in the Netherlands.

AIR CULTURE Manipulates VOC production

VOC production is related to the specialized plant structures that produce them: the glandular trichomes. As trichomes production and density is related to environmental stimuli it is possible to alter not only trichome density to achieve higher levels of exudation but also the chemical composition of plant volatile emissions. There are three main abiotic factors that can influence plant chemical production: light exposure, temperature and humidity.

ENVIRONMENTAL INPUTS

AIR CULTURES's electronic system is able to measure the circumstances inside the plant chamber and to give different environmental inputs by changing light frequencies, temperature and humidity values. These will stimulate the plant to intensify the production of more specific compounds in detriment of others therefore personalizing the air that will be harvested for consumption or medicinal treatment.

AIR CULTURE SCENARIO

In this speculative scenario the enriched air produced by the plant is harvested without harming the plant and stored into compressed air capsules that can be consumed through specifically designed air cutlery. The shape of the cutlery is based on how to contain the air the air flow and separation of the chemical molecules depending on their density and volatile temperature.

What if in the future, the same way we farm for food we will (have to) farm for air?

AIR CULTURE lab was on show at Grand Hornu's CID (Centre d' Innovation et de Design) Design on Air exhibition 23 June > 13 October 2019

All glasswork is hand-blown and made in collaboration with Richard Price and Sander van der Wal @ Van Tetterode Glass Studio Amsterdam