The visualization entitled (ex)tending towards uses data collected using the Foresta-Inclusive sensing infrastructure, which was installed at the rareCharitable Reserve in Blaire, ON. CA in 2022. The sensing infrastructure is comprised of three sculptural sensor pods that are battery powered and send live data to an Internet of Things (IoT) prototyping platform. The sculptural sensor pods were installed unobtrusively onto the trunk of trees and sensed phenomenon such as: soil and air temperature/humidity, particulate matter (.1 μm – 10 μm), light level, wind, volatile organic compounds (VOC), C02, and rain. The collected data is materialized as a particle flow field that gently undulates as it is affected in real time. Inspired by tree rings as evidence of yearly experience, the visualization is structured in the same manner and visualizes the last 24hrs of the tree’s life, where the outer ring shows contemporary values and each subsequent smaller ring the values from the previous hour. This visualization is part of a larger installation comprised of visual, sonic and olfactory elements.

ABOUT THE ARTIST Jane Tingley is an artist, curator, director of the SLOlab (Systems | Life | Ontologies), and Associate Professor at York University. Her studio work combines traditional studio practice with new media tools - and spans responsive/interactive installation, performative robotics, and telematically connected distributed sculptures/ installations. Her current work is exploring human-non-human relations and finding ways to remap human-nature alliances. She has participated in exhibitions and festivals in the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe - including translife - International Triennial of Media Art at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, Gallerie Le Deco in Tokyo (JP), Elektra Festival in Montréal (CA) and the Künstlerhause in Vienna (AT). She received the Kenneth Finkelstein Prize in Sculpture in Manitoba, the first prize in the iNTERFACES – Interactive Art Competition in Porto, Portugal.