Preparing to Become Tranxxeno: The Obxeno Apparatus
Preparing to Become Tranxxeno: The Obxeno Apparatus explores the long-duration in-situ observation of lichen growth through a biomorphic computational system that additionally provides a habitat for other local species. One desire is to try and enter into “lichen time” by sitting, through the computational device, for months if not years with a single exemplar of lichen. The device takes occasional photos to produce timelapses that additionally show the temporal dynamics of the lichen: its growth, its interaction with other entities, its stillness. This long-duration observation is something that is not often done with lichen, even within a scientific context. The images become part of an archive that can be viewed by people from wherever they live, online. The lichen-device context is designed to meld into the environment and manifests a new way of incorporating computational devices outside of human habitation.
More up-to-date information, images, and timelapses can be found on the Instagram page for the project: https://www.instagram.com/obxeno.
Because I no longer use Instagram due to changes made by Meta that target transgender people, I am working on moving the images and timelapses of Obxeno Apparatus to another platform.
Code for The Obxeno Apparatus can be found on gitlab.
Timelapse Video
This is an overview of the photos taken by Obxeno from April 2024 to March 2025.
More detailed examinations of the timelapse is to come.
Credits
Concept, fabrication, electrical design, programming: Adriana Knouf
Industrial design and 3D modeling: Felipe Rebolledo
Location: Zone2Source and Jonmar from Onkruidenier.
Special thanks: Zone2Source (Alice Smits), De Onkruidenier, Claudia Pederson
The project was supported with an Experiment Grant from Stimuleringsfonds.
