Biotic Pump Theory

Sculpture installation with a 3min video projection loop at Proyecto’ace. (shot with lights on)
Sculpture installation with a 3min video projection loop at Proyecto’ace. (shot with lights off)

In 2018 at the LABVERDE residency in the Brazilian Amazon I learned about the Biotic Pump theory. What struck a cord with me was the ability of a large tree in the Amazon to move 1000l of water into the atmosphere everyday through transpiration. It got me thinking: what kind of technology could replace such an ecosystem service once we deforest enough for it to collapse and how this question speaks to the Anthropocene mind and value systems?  My response was absurdist, industrial and familiar: mechanical trees which I incorporated into the landscapes I painted. Developed the idea at Proyecto’ace residency in Buenos Aires I thought about the dependency of Argentina on the Amazon in their watercycle and created a series of water prints of trees found in Buenos Aires using water from the Rio Plata. Lastly I created a sculpture installation which animated the idea of forest as a biotic pump. I did this by installing tree trunk like shapes and projecting footage I shot on the Rio Negro. The installation connected the idea of forest as a biotic pump with its possible mechanization through the soundtrack which starts off with the sounds of the Amazon that are later drowned out by the boat engine.

  • Biotic Moisture Pump (aka. the Amazon.) Watercolour and Rio Negro (black river) on paper. Mounted in a custom flexible frame. 61cm x 152cm – 24″ x 60″ inches. 2018.
  • Transpiration triptych. Installed at Proyecto Ace. Watercolour, Rio Negro (black river) on paper and custom flexible frame. 61cm x 152cm – 24″ x 60″ inches eache. 2018.
  • Transpiration show installed at Proyecto Ace. 2018.
  • Biotic / Mechanical / Biotic. Watercolour on paper 61cm x 152cm – 24″ x 60″ inches. 2018
  • Metal Forest. Watercolour on paper 61cm x 152cm – 24″ x 60″ inches. 2018
  • Condensation and transpiration complex. Pencil on paper. 23cm x 30cm – 9″ x 12″ inches.
  • Re-imagined sites in Buenos Aires where trees have been replaced with transpiration machinery (aka. Mechanical Trees.) Watercolour, art mask, tape, pencil on paper 20cm x 15cm – 8″ x 6″ inches each. 2018.
  • Re-imagined sites in Buenos Aires where trees have been replaced with transpiration machinery (aka. Mechanical Trees.) Watercolour, art mask, tape, pencil on paper 20cm x 15cm – 8″ x 6″ inches each. 2018.
  • Re-imagined sites in Buenos Aires where trees have been replaced with transpiration machinery (aka. Mechanical Trees.) Watercolour, art mask, tape, pencil on paper 20cm x 15cm – 8″ x 6″ inches each. 2018.
  • Reserva Ecologica Costanera Sur. Re-imagined sites in Buenos Aires where trees have been replaced with transpiration machinery (aka. Mechanical Trees.) Watercolour, art mask, pencil on paper 20cm x 15cm – 8″ x 6″ inches each. 2018.
  • Monumento Del Fin De Mileno. Re-imagined sites in Buenos Aires where trees have been replaced with transpiration machinery (aka. Mechanical Trees.) Watercolour, art mask, pencil on paper 20cm x 15cm – 8″ x 6″ inches each. 2018.
  • Puente Delgada: Metrosidero Libro. Watercolour, tape, pencil on paper 20cm x 15cm – 8″ x 6″ inches each. 2018.
  • Buenos Aires Transpiration trees series. Water from Rio de la Plata on watercolour paper, tape, artmask. 22cm x 36cm – 8.5″ x 14″ inches each. 2018
  • Water-prints matrix for Bent Ombu. Water from Rio de la Plata on watercolour paper, tape, artmask. 22cm x 36cm – 8.5″ x 14″ inches. 2018
  • Ombu. Water from Rio de la Plata on watercolour paper 22cm x 36cm – 8.5″ x 14″ inches. 2018
  • Biotic/Mechanical Moisture Pump installed at Proyecto Ace. Parchment paper, cardboard and video projection. 100cm by 200cm by 500cm – 39″ x 79″ x 196″ inches. 2018.
  • Biotic/Mechanical Moisture Pump installation material and projection experimentation. 2018.