PL’AI, the third work from Špela Petrič’s opus PLANT-MACHINE, embraces the notion of a play as an ontological condition of all living bodies, including plants. The act of playing, unlike games, which are limited by clear rules or goals, reflects the curiosity of existence and is therefore at the heart of (self)knowing. PL’AI is a process lasting several months in which plants grown from seed and an AI-robot whose perceptual world is limited to them, interact with each other. The play beyond the human time scale promises a glimpse of artificial intelligence as formed by the plant and, conversely, a morphology of the plant imprinted by the interventions of the algorithmically-controlled robot.
Programming: Benjamin Fele, Tim Oblak | Robot development & assembly: Erik Krkač, Gregor Krpič, David Pilipovič, Jože Zajec | Design: Miha Turšič | Hands-on assistance: Bor Jarh, Meta Petrič | Consulting & timelapse video: Adriana Knouf | Narration: Blaž Šef | Text: Agnieszka Wolodzko | Special thanks: Andrej Petrič, Zoran Srdić-Janežič, Waag Society, MU Hybrid Art House | Video: Hana Jošić
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The project is produced by Kapelica Gallery / Kersnikova Institute within the framework of the European ARTificial Intelligence Lab and co-funded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Ljubljana and Creative Industries Fund NL.
