As part of the London Design Festival Gallery Libby Sellers presented 'Branches' by Simon Heijdens at the Andaz Hotel.
Through 'Branches', Heijdens transforms the static space (be it a hotel foyer or private living room) into a forest of light. Seeded from the earlier works Tree and Lightweeds (now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York) 'Branches' transposed Heijdens' living digital organisms into a constantly evolving, ceiling-based canopy of foliage.
By joining natural processes with bespoke software programming and sensors Heijdens generates these immersive installations for both private and public clients. The point being that the movement and growth of the digital foliage is directly and continuously determined by forces beyond his control - including the external weather patterns or the internal movement within the room. By charting these perpetually changing and evolving conditions Heijdens offers an antidote to the immutable and unresponsive characteristics of our built environment.
