information aesthetics

a rubber tree plant for which the conditions for life or death are controlled by monitored fluctuations in the stock market price of Home Depot. in fact, Home Depot is responsible for the plant in two ways: first, an unconditional guarantee to replace any plant they sell, for up to one year; secondly through an implied cybernetic contract. the installation uses a Wi-Fi connection to access Home Depot stock quotes once per week, altering its watering pattern accordingly. if the plant should perish due to poor stock performance, it is returned to the Home Depot & replaced with another-at no additional cost. also see infotropism, another biological ambient display. [swamp.nu & swamp.nu(pdf)|via boingboing.net]