Invitation to an Under-ground Party: Designing for extending human sensibilities into the soil of their plants

In this demo we present a design experiment that allows people to sense the activity level in the soil of their domestic plants. A contact microphone picks up sounds via vibrations in the soil and translates this into the speed and brightness of a spinning disco ball, insinuating that an under-ground party is happening, and inviting the human to take a listen. A plant's underground existence is normally hidden from us, which results in a limiting plant-gaze that only seems to be interested in a plant when it is lush or blooming. This artefact explores posthuman design practices and seeks to introduce new sensory and aesthetic experiences of a plant's hidden underground activities in people's everyday encounters, creating new ways of understanding and appreciating a plant's presence no matter the season.