Since 2020 Zwanikken has been using red basil plants to research the effects of gravity on the growth behavior of plants. These installations consist of plants spun around in a gravity-inducing mechanism. As a result, the plants experience four times more gravity than usual.

This 2022 edition, first shown at the VU ART SCIENCE gallery, adds new elements to see how plants respond to sensory changes in their environment. Firstly, strobe lights have been added to see how plants respond to irregular light intervals. Additionally, the strobe lights provide a surreal visual effect to the viewer. Another addition to the Hypergravity Bio Portal is a feedback loop in which the plants can send electric pulses into a music system that allows the plants to respond to their environment with musical sound.

By experimenting with plants, their sensory methods, and root structures that are part of the organism’s technology to create new and innovative shapes, aesthetics, and plant functions. Zwanikken focuses on plant behavior and responses to different human-induced environmental changes in his research.

Photo credits: Gert Jan van Rooij