Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau

dark room. It contains plants, and there’s a large- A year later, the pair’s next major project, A-Volve, A format projection in the background. A group of was honored with the Golden Nica grand prize in the astonished individuals are touching the plants – some Prix Ars Electronica’s Interactive Art category. A-Volve cautiously, some shaking them quite vigorously. All are would go on to also make quite a name for itself wor- absolutely thrilled by the apparent magic that lets them wide. conjure up a multi-hued digital world of plants right on And here again, what elicited such enthusiastic the room’s wall. responses from those partaking of it was the blending This extraordinary 1993 exhibition abruptly cata- of biological and digital metaphors and the consistent pulted Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau to linkup of art and science. This was indeed a work that fame in the international media art scene. And their displayed artistic, technical and scienti? c excellence in breakthrough installation Interactive Plant Growing equal measure and that impressively demonstrated the remains a major milestone in the history of the then- aesthetic and technological competence of its creators. nascent artform; it continues to be one of digital media Thus, it’s certainly no surprise that the two have art’s most frequently exhibited works. been frequent guests at Ars Electronica ever since.