Input Field Form

Input Field Form is an outdoor installation that puts the structure of the Internet, such as the Web’s Hyper-Text Markup Language, to new utilization. Input Field Form translates the form of http://agrikultura.triennal.se/application/ – the Triennial’s website and artists’ application submission form ­– into radishes, potatoes and other vegetables, as well as soil, and electronics.
This online submission form – used for collecting application data from the artists – is “freed” from this function and transcends its usual format to become an agricultural field in the landscape of Hyllie, taking up an area of about Meter 16 x 7 Meters. The field exists of seeded plants and embedded electronics such as sensors and small video screens, and invites visitors and participants for interaction over the course of the exhibition.

Radishes and video-clips are depending on the same parameters: sun, fertilizer level, temperature, and soil moisture, which are influencing their “outcome.” Taking also time as an additional parameter – how long it takes to grow fruit and vegetables – the videos will change over time enriched by growing information.

Input Field Form follows the medieval principle for the design of herb gardens in the coexistence of medical, culinary and ornamental plants. As much as in historic gardens different fields were dedicated to historic figures, the Input Field Form “garden” is structured by the Web form’s functionality, and each agricultural “sub-field” therefore is dedicated to a specific functionality in the online Input Field. So, for instance, the online form field that asks about community involvement will host an event for all participants celebrating, harvesting and eating the food that has grown inside the installation.
Ursula Endlicher
USA/Austria