I believe I may have mentioned this briefly in another blog post, but I actually wanted to be a biologist and engineer before I became an IM major. Biomimicry was and still is one of my favorite topics to talk about, and I really liked how Marco references nature so frequently and prominently in his work. It’s consistently very interesting to see how he got the ideas for what he makes.
I really enjoyed his project on the fungal network, simply titled fungi. I didn’t know a leading theory of plants on land was because of fungi. That would be pretty interesting if it was true. Either way, the fact that different characteristics of data affect how the sound comes out the speaker was really cool. The biodiversity value doesn’t directly affect the sound but shakes the speaker so it condenses the sound, that’s pretty neat. It lets the viewer see exactly why the speaker might be shaking intensely as long as they know what data affects what.
One more thing I found humorous was the fact that Marco likes monkeys but is scared of them. I find that pretty relatable because monkeys are honestly pretty lawless animals if you’ve seen one.
I really wish I was in a better physical state today to fully take in what Marco’s work had to offer. I hope the studio visit tomorrow is just as interesting as what we’ve seen so far.