Terrestrial Assemblages (Simon Ingram with Kamahi Electronics, Verdi NZ, and Acryform), Sapflux Monitor, 2024
Kawa poplar, sap sensor, cabling, solar panel and assembly, charge controller, battery, microcontrollers, code, RGB LED matrix panel, and plexiglass. Courtesy Gow Langsford Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland. With support from Chris and Charlotte Swasbrook, and Kamahi Electronics.
Simon Ingram draws on approaches from artificial life, brain science, robotics, radio astronomy, and earth-system science. For many years, he has been making paintings by systemic, mechanical, and electronic means. The gridded compositions of his early Automata Paintings were arrived at using simple algorithms. Later, he developed painting machines that generated novel compositions in response to low-frequency atmospheric waves and high-frequency cosmic waves. Ingram has become increasingly involved in environmental concerns. In 2019, he formed Terrestrial Assemblages, a contemporary-art-based ecological working group, to create awareness of natural systems. Terrestrial Assemblages’ Sapflux Monitor visualises sap flow in a kawa tree, and the humidity and air temperature around it, using an assembly of sensors, microcontrollers, and code. It demonstrates dynamic processes within the tree, as it responds and deals with climatic conditions, in situ and in real time.
