Borrowed Scenery 0.1

At The Game Is Up, FoAM will install a temporary lab to explore the vegetal side of the mind. The lab environment will grow and decay over the course of the festival, celebrating the cyclical nature of seasons, festivals and life. For ten days the Brugzaal at the Vooruit will become FoAM’s makeshift outpost, where we will explore the depths of “patabotany.”

Various investigations into plant matter will be conducted, including ingestion (eating plants), simulation (plants in games and fiction) and communication (observing, sensing and talking with plants). During presentations and conversations (accompanied by plant-based refreshments), the guests will be able to learn practical tips on guild-gardening and photovoltaics, or perhaps muse about plant sentience and the future of Human-Plant Interaction. The lab will become a starting point for botanical fieldwork, with several seeding and gathering expeditions planned.

For visitors in need of decompression between buzzing festival activities, the lab can be a place to slow down and relax. Over time, the environment and the activities will diminish and decelerate, until the lab vanishes on the last day, leaving no physical trace. With contributions from (among others) Cocky Eek, Nik Gaffney, Dave Griffiths, Adrian Hon (Six to Start), Theun Karelse, Lina Kusaite, Maja Kuzmanovic, Tale of Tales (Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn), Bart Vandeput and Angelo Vermeulen.

• http://www.vooruit.be/nl/event/1840