Crassulacean Resonance

Crassulacean Resonance
(Opus 1 for Succulent and Piezo)

Intersections between biology, electronics, and space
The work challenges the classical notion of a "musical instrument." By using a living plant (succulent) and a piezoelectric contact pickup, the project fits into the tradition of Sound Art and Bio-art. The goal is not to master the object to extract precise notes, but rather to establish a relationship of listening and mediation with a biological organism and the electrical phenomena around it.

The sound generated (the "hiss" and the responses to approach) is not the plant "singing," but rather a complex physical interaction. Succulents retain a lot of water in their plump leaves, making them excellent natural electrical conductors. When the performer brings their hands close, the human body (which acts as an antenna picking up radio frequencies and electricity from the environment) creates a capacitance field with the plant. The piezoelectric disc, originally designed to capture mechanical vibrations, operates here at the limit of its function, capturing micro-frictions in the leaves and, depending on the circuit's grounding, translating variations in the electromagnetic field into high-impedance audio signals (the "hiss").
Historically anchored in the school of John Cage and David Tudor, this piece embraces indeterminacy. The performer has no absolute control over the sound result. Variables such as the soil moisture on the day of the performance, the static of the human body, and even interference from the room's electrical network alter the timbre. The score (divided into spatial movements) organizes actions, but the sound result is a living and mutable ecosystem, celebrating the accident and unpredictability of organic matter combined with old analog/digital technology.
The Alesis equipment (Midiverb II and Microverb III) do not function merely as "cosmetic effects" applied on top of the sound. They are the architectural space of the work. The raw sound of the piezo and the plant is dry, tiny, and inhospitable. By applying dense layers of reverbs (halls, rooms, plates) and modulations (chorus, flanger), the processors create an artificial psychoacoustic dimension. They take a biological micro-event and expand it to the size of a cathedral or shatter it through multitap delays. The processing is, therefore, an act of sculpting the air around the vessel.

The performance invites the audience to a state of deep listening, as shown by Pauline Oliveros, a lifelong practice that aims to expand perception beyond the direct relationship with what is heard, encompassing the entire sound field and, at the same time, finding focus. By shifting the focus away from the human voice or musical virtuosity and placing it on the micro-frictions of a small, electronically processed succulent, the work reminds us that non-human life and invisible electrical currents possess their own vibrational materiality.