Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
This video is about The Condition, an exhibit in Science Gallery Dublin's exhibition OPEN LABS. This exhibition is an experiment that investigates the Nordmann fir as an organism cultivated to satisfy a specific cultural purpose, in this case, our desire for a Christmas tree. It has gone through several evolutions of artificial selection and novel cloning techniques to insure the efficient production of thousands of 'perfect trees' for the Christmas market. The trees in this installation are exposed to microgravity conditions with continuous rotational movement. The movement is governed by an algorithm known as a self-organising map (SOM), which is able to learn how to classify information without supervision. It is influenced by space and weather. The artists questions what kind of life forms will survive with us or without us in changing environmental conditions? What kind of conditions and organisms are forming at the intersection of technological and biological evolution and human agency?
Laura Beloff & Jonas Jorgenson (DK/FI & DK)
Testing the Nordmann fir Christmas tree’s ability to survive under changing environmental conditions, 2016
More at dublin.sciencegallery.com/OPENLABS
This video is about The Condition, an exhibit in Science Gallery Dublin's exhibition OPEN LABS. This exhibition is an experiment that investigates the Nordmann fir as an organism cultivated to satisfy a specific cultural purpose, in this case, our desire for a Christmas tree. It has gone through several evolutions of artificial selection and novel cloning techniques to insure the efficient production of thousands of 'perfect trees' for the Christmas market. The trees in this installation are exposed to microgravity conditions with continuous rotational movement. The movement is governed by an algorithm known as a self-organising map (SOM), which is able to learn how to classify information without supervision. It is influenced by space and weather. The artists questions what kind of life forms will survive with us or without us in changing environmental conditions? What kind of conditions and organisms are forming at the intersection of technological and biological evolution and human agency?
Laura Beloff & Jonas Jorgenson (DK/FI & DK)
Testing the Nordmann fir Christmas tree’s ability to survive under changing environmental conditions, 2016
More at dublin.sciencegallery.com/OPENLABS
