Deep Data Prototype _2 is the second stage of the Deep Data project research arc and features 8 separate seed growing environments for the model organism arabidopsis, a plant commonly used to study the effects of zero gravity on shoot development. The mechanisms behind the sculptural growing apparatus are based on the microfluidic 'RootChip' device developed expressly for arabadopsis research. In this instance, the seed chambers model the light intensity and colour temperature of the Solar System bodies that we have imagined could be colonised by humans or could harbour life. The Earth and the Moon are modelled as they are, while Venus, Mars and Titan model the light qualities as we know them to be and also as they were envisaged in 1970s science fiction - that is to say, before our space probes and landers pushed back our horizons of knowledge.
The seeds used in this experiment are the NW67 long hypocotyl variety, a naturally occurring photomorphogenic mutation whose initial growth is affected by the amount the wavelength of light it receives is shifted towards the red or the blue ends of the visible spectrum. Therefore, the experiment produces organic microsculptures directed by the real and imagined light conditions on our Solar System neighbours, and their location within the general light spectrum.
