An exploration of interspecies connectivity

Melbourne, 2022: Bompas & Parr collaborated with Associate Professor Monica Gagliano, Dr Claire Farrell and the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne, to conceptualise and create Sentient Forest, an installation for Science Gallery Melbourne’s SWARM exhibition, exploring the emerging realm of interspecies connectivity.

While plants do not possess brains or neurones, they nonetheless display complex behaviours such as information acquisition, memory, learning, decision-making and – potentially – swarm intelligence through connectivity via their roots.

Picking up the headphones at one of our forest listening stations, guests could hear a soundscape representing tree communication and bioacoustics, with specially curated room scents helping immerse them further in the installation.