Automata for Colour III (2012)

Art Souterrain, Montréal, QC
Sculptural installation / plant-dye hydroponic system

Automata for Colour III is a process-driven installation that integrates a hydroponic growing system, plant-derived dyes, and modular sculptural structures to examine how colour and material flow through interconnected environments. Hydroponically grown plants serve as both medium and mechanism: their roots, stems, and pigments generate colour that circulates through a network of tubing, vessels, and reservoirs.

The installation operates as a functional system in which water, nutrients, and colourants move continuously, making visible the dynamics of transmission, exchange, and transformation. Central to the work is the concept of “leakage” as the transfer of material across boundaries, treated not as an error but as an inherent condition of permeable systems. In this context, leakage becomes a lens through which to observe how substances migrate, accumulate, or dissipate over time.

By situating natural dyes within a controlled hydroponic apparatus, the project frames pigment as an active agent that records shifts in flow, saturation, and absorption. The work operates simultaneously as sculpture and as an evolving process, foregrounding the interactions between organic matter and constructed infrastructure.

Automata for Colour III extends my ongoing research into ecological processes, system behaviours, and the aesthetics of circulation. The installation invites viewers to consider how boundaries, material, conceptual, or technological, are constantly negotiated through movement and exchange.