Natural Deselection (2006)

Natural Deselection is an instrument that competes plants against each other. The device empowers plants to control the fate of others using sensors and mechanised shears in a Darwinian race for survival. The sensors set above the plants detect the first to grow to a specified height, at which point it is saved, and the others fatally chopped.

The instrument exists firstly as an installation that engages viewers in suspenseful anticipation, while the outcome is perversely a desirable product; a winning plant that carries a sweet psychological value that is appreciated and valued by experiencing the instrument in use.

Thanks to Sarah van Gameren

[Watch Natural Deselection #1 film]