Inspired by science exploring how certain “recipes” of light can improve plants’ growth and resilience, Daan Roosegaarde’s latest artwork GROW is an homage to the importance of innovation in the agriculture system, and to the beauty of agriculture in itself. The luminous dreamscape gives a new meaning to the word ‘agri-culture’ by reframing the landscape as a living cultural artwork, where red and blue lights wash like waves over an enormous field surrounded by darkness.
GROW consists of a design-based light recipe which shines vertically across 20,000m2 of farmland with leek (Allium porrum). Experienced as ‘dancing lights’ across the huge agricultural field, the light is poetic, and inspired by photobiology light science technologies which have shown that certain recipes of blue, red, and ultraviolet light can enhance plant growth and reduce the use of pesticides by up to 50%.
GROW is part of the artist-in-residence program of the Rabobank. Daan Roosegaarde and his team of designers and experts developed GROW over two years, informed by expert knowledge sessions at Studio Roosegaarde, Wageningen University & Research, Springtij Forum, and the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is the first in a series of dreamscapes by Studio Roosegaarde which show the beauty of combining art and science to create a better world.
Photos: Ruben Hamelink and Daan Roosegaarde, courtesy of Daan Roosegaarde
