Digestive Table - Intriguing Vermicomposter Design
Image courtesy of Amy Youngs
I thought I was going to get some ‘real’ work done today, but alas I came across yet another awesome story and knew I had to write a post about it.
It all started when I found this article on the Sci Fi Tech Blog. As I learned, the Digestive Table is much more than just a kitchen table - it’s a vermicomposting bin…and it’s a masterpiece! As soon as I started reading I decided I had to find out who was responsible for such a creation.
Luckily there was a link at the end of the article that took me to Amy Youngs’ Digestive Table page.
So who exactly is Amy Youngs?
Amy M. Youngs creates mixed-media, interactive sculptures and digital media works, that explore the complex relationship between technology and our changing concept of nature and self. She has exhibited her works nationally and internationally at venues such as Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, OH), Pace Digital Gallery (New York, NY), the Biennale of Electronic Arts (Perth, Australia), John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, Wisconsin), Circulo de Bellas Artes (Madrid, Spain), the Visual Arts Museum (New York, NY) the Art Institute of Chicago’s Betty Rymer Gallery, Vedanta Gallery, (Chicago, IL), the San Francisco Public Library, Blasthaus, (San Francisco, CA) and Works (San Jose, CA).
Wow - this was getting more interesting by the minute!
According to her bio, Amy is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at The Ohio State University.
Interestingly enough, the inspiration for the Digestive Table came from her interactions with OSU researchers Dr. Clive Edwards and Dr. Norman Arancon (both heros/aquaintances of mine), who are well-known in vermicomposting circles for their fascinating academic research in this field.
Here is a blurb from the Digestive Table page:
A living ecosystem of worms, sowbugs and bacteria are invited to this table. They are a part of the digestive system that starts with a person discarding food leftovers and shredded paper into the portal at the top. The bacteria and sowbugs begin breaking down the waste and the worms soon join in to further digest it into a rich compost that sprinkles out of the bottom of the fabric bag that hangs beneath the table. This compost is used as a fertilizer for plants, such as those at the base of the table.
The human plays an important part at the table by eating, feeding the food waste to the worms, feeding the resulting fertilizer to the plants, or by simply sitting and appreciating the living ecosystem she/he is a part of. A cross-section of the activity inside the top 9 inches of the compost is made visible using an infrared security camera connected to an LCD screen built into the table. On the screen, viewers can see the live movements of the worms and sowbugs inside.
You absolutely need to check out Amy Youngs’ website for yourself though. Not only does she provide technical specifications for those interested in building the table themselvses, but she also showcases a wide selection of incredible interesting pieces of artwork.
Technorati Tags: artwork, sculpture, vermicomposting, vermicomposter, OSU, Clive Edwards, Amy Youngs, composting, compost, digestive table
Written by Bentley on November 29th, 2006 with
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