Obtrusive Relationships

Obtrusive Relationships (2019) was a multi-site installation developed for London Design Festival. Our intent was to create a functioning and self-regulating botanical infrastructure within London College of Communication (LCC) that treats the building as an ecosystem, taking the college’s waste, spare space, and leftover materials, and putting it to use to support purposeful facets of more-than-human life.

A range of plants were grown in planters created from wood off-cuts from LCC’s 3D workshop. The plants were selected for their environmentally beneficial effects including attracting pollinating insects, and removing harmful toxins from the air.

A self-adjusting watering system monitored soil moisture levels in each planter, and conveyed this information online. Water reservoirs were created from leftover milk bottles from the college kitchens. Coffee grounds from LCC’s cafes were used as fertiliser.

The installation was designed to be self-contained and modular, acting as a demonstration of feasibility and scale for alternative systems of production; and highlighting how the ecological, institutional, and technical facets of these systems are interconnected.

Participants: Gareth Foote, Wesley Goatley, Marion Lagedamont, Alistair McClymont, Tobias Revell, Oliver Smith, Eva Verhoeven, Georgina Voss.