Computers and Plant Life CAN Become One With BioModd

This is another one of those techie recycling art hybrid projects that I oftentimes have trouble classifying in the right group, but considering that it's currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, let's just chalk it up to art....or just plain "cool."

Belgian biologist Angelo Vermeulen has dubbed his assemblage of plants growing out of old yet totally working computer parts "BioModd," and he hopes that people will walk away with a completely different sense of how and what you can cultivate your green thumb with...or in.

Demonstrating that technology, nature and man can interact efficiently and harmoniously, Vermeulen has created a display that travels across the world, is broken down and recycled entirely after each show and then recreated in each new museum location with totally recycled (yet "new to him") computer parts and plant materials.

While it seems like an awful lot of effort, it is an interesting example of the lengths that some people will go to leave as little of an environmental impact as possible.

The actual 8 foot high display, enclosed in wood and glass, is maintained by humans (aka "watered") but it must be quite a sight to behold considering that the computers continue to hum along with ivy and other house plants springing forth from them.

Vermeulen explains, "This system is built almost entirely from recycled computers, and plant growth is stimulated by the excess heat of the working electronics. Visitors can interact with the art installation by playing a multiplayer computer game that runs on this hybrid system."

All I can say is, "Hmmmm...I didn't know that this was possible!"

This spectacle makes me want to play around with my old computer parts right now!