Shi Cao

I chose to co-create the world with the audience by inviting them to draw their own imaginary flowers and I created their digital gardens for the pollinators by collecting data, aiming to indirectly influence people's ideologies through collaboration, providing new understanding and practical experiences for the pollinators. The choice of co-creating worlds increases the emotional engagement of the participants, increases interactivity and participation, participants are more likely to become emotionally invested and the open nature of co-creating worlds allows participants the freedom to be creative and innovative, making the digital garden more random. The collaborative and nurturing approach to digital gardens increases participants' interest in gardening and fosters a sense of sustainability.

Plants have a complex relationship with pollinating insects, interacting with them by means of their morphology, odour and pheromones. Pollen is the central vehicle for their communication, and pollen itself carries a great deal of genetic information, so it is chosen as the main object of the experiment. Through sound visualisation, the sounds produced by the pollinators and the plants are visualised, with the audience following the audio rhythm and touching the love letter to immerse themselves in the connection between the plants and the pollinating insects. The audience will be intrigued by the connection between plants and pollinators and will think about it.

Pollinators are facing a serious crisis in the UK, with the global loss of pollinating insects leading to insufficient pollination and reduced crop yields, resulting in the premature death of around 500,000 people each year. The importance of food to humans is clear. By combining the seeds produced by pollinating plants with food design, the seeds of pollinating insects' favourite plants are selected and the audience is invited to make and enjoy them together to reflect on the impact of pollinators and plants on our daily lives. Audiences will touch, smell and taste the 'food' and at the end of the exhibition will be invited to take it home and plant it, thus helping pollinators in a practical way.