Far from producing stylized objects or concise critiques, the events and artifacts of the project are rough hewn and incomplete. The growBot Garden project, then, functions as both a platform for engagement and for reflection on the nature of that engagement. These representations and prototypes are documented and shared through public forums to provoke consideration of new assemblages that might emerge at the intersection of technology and agriculture. In these workshops, people come together to collaboratively make speculative representations and prototypes of alternative agricultural futures.
GROWBOT GARDEN SERIES
The growBot Garden project is structured around a series of public design workshops that draw from practices of participatory design and tactical media. In this talk I will present the growBot Garden project: a project developed to investigate co-design approaches to speculation in the context of small-scale agriculture. Recently however, there has been a turn towards speculative design as a mode of public engagement, as a means of increasing participation in critical discourses of techno-science. Oftentimes it is a practice of experts that is conducted in studios and circulated through exhibitions.
![growbot garden growbot garden](https://c1.iggcdn.com/indiegogo-media-prod-cld/image/upload/c_fill%2Cf_auto%2Ch_200%2Cw_200/v1438212782/h48x5cdzkjv0bf00fvrz.jpg)
Speculative design is a way of using design to explore and express possible futures and alternative presents. Speculative Design for Speculative Agricultures In part, this included working with people’s alternative farming practices and instantiating their ‘politics’ through robotic devices co-designed during workshop events. I was most struck by his articulation of the notion of ‘Public Design’ as opposed to Critical and Speculative Design. You can listen to more of Growbot’s music on our YouTube channel: and on our Soundcloud account: Soundcloud.Carl DiSalvo speaking at the Design and Social Science SeminarĬarl DiSalvo was our guest speaker at this weeks Design and Social Science Seminar Series. She also developed new and unique sound effects which enhance what was already there, my favourite being the eerie sound of the crystals growing around the station. I’d already created the sound effects for it prior to working with Jessica, but she was successfully able to weave the music around them. The only cutscene on the first floor plays at the beginning of the game, and describes the location of the world and reason why the player is there.
![growbot garden growbot garden](https://www.mygrowbot.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/model-m-2.0-600x613.jpg)
It serves the game plot well as Nara has been cut off from the Captain and her peers. I love the wistful and nostalgic mood the music brings to the room with its sparse piano notes and old vinyl crackle. There Nara can equip herself with a number of useful items such as a Brainapilla, who serves as a hint system within the game. The final room on the first floor is the Captain’s study. Thanks to Jessica, Wee Ted now has a drum roll to accompany his march:
![growbot garden growbot garden](https://noveltystreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/GrowBot-Abundance-Sustainable-Farmed-redwood-768x637.jpg)
The player needs the permission of the Chief of Security to enter. In the hallway beyond the kitchen there is a door leading up to the garden which is locked. I’m in the process of re-recording Starbelly’s voice in a deeper tone: Here’s the background music for the Kitchen along with Starbelly’s theme. Even though the music regularly changes and supports the player's exploration, I love that it maintains the underlying themes of apprehension and isolation. It's a small detail, but Jessica created a short melody to go with it and it helps to make the world and its inhabitants feel real.Īs you move from the bedroom to the kitchen, the music shifts first from melancholic to light and adventurous, and then when Starbelly enters it moves again to something more fun and mischievous. In the opening scene of the game Nara explains how the light sprites kept her up all night with their static song. I love how Jessica has incorporated the light sprites' sound into the music:
![growbot garden growbot garden](https://www.mygrowbot.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-03-at-7.25.58-PM.jpg)
One of my favourite tracks is this background piece for the player's bedroom. Her background music enriches gameplay and her cinematic/cutscene music enhances the story. The atmosphere and emotion she creates in her music is perfect for the game. I met Jessica Fichot at IndieCade last year in September where Growbot was a Digital Select.