Fragments d’un Monde Enchevêtré

This poetic installation explores the dialogue between nature and the urban landscape through a series of radiographs of plane tree leaves, a species that comprises 38% of Paris’s tree canopy. Each leaf, revealed in delicate detail through a light display, displays the fine intricacies of its veins, evoking the complexity of a city seen from above—a network where paths, arteries, and invisible territories converge.

Every week, Wendy travelled around Paris to collect samples of freshly fallen plane tree leaves. As well as collecting the leaves, she followed a personal protocol: to record the ambient sounds around each tree and the residual electricity emitted by the leaves. This imperceptible electrical data bears witness to the subtle energies present in plant matter, even after the leaves have fallen.

Thanks to a machine called Bamboo, these electrical signals have been translated into violin notes, transforming the natural impulses of the leaves into unique music. This melody, derived from the energy of the plane tree leaves, allows us to hear the silent interpretation of nature in the heart of the city.

In this way, the installation does more than simply show fragments of leaves; it allows us to see and hear a resonance of the city, a territory made up of veins and vibrations, where each leaf becomes a living sample of the urban soul. Visitors are invited to perceive Paris through the discreet echoes of its plant life, a framework that reminds us of the omnipresence of nature beneath the surface of the city.

BAMBOO M works by converting plants’ electrical signals into music.

The sounds produced by the BAMBOO M device do not reprensent the actual sounds of plants. This device uses electrical signals to generate music, but it does not mean that plants themselves make these sounds. Instead, it’s a musical interpretation of electrical variations measured in plants.

In fact, studies like the one from Tel Aviv University have shown that plants can emit sounds, these are ultrasonic, beyond human hearing. These ultrasonic sounds can occur when plant are stressed, such as due to a lack of water or physical damage.