January 24, 2009 - March 28, 2009 // OTIS Ben Maltz Gallery, Los Angeles
The Future Imaginary
Phil Ross
project  |  about the artist

Junior Return is a network of glass capsules that provide a controlled hydroponic environment; the plants’ roots are submerged in nutrient-infused water, while LED lights supply the illumination required. These pods are tethered to a battery pack that supplies the energy for all of the plant's requirements. A digital timer counts the seconds that remain until a small pump is activated, briefly moving air to the plant and the water that bathes its roots.

This intensive care provides a form of stasis for this organism, keeping it in a suspended state of being. The plant lives but does not grow beyond the minimum resources provided in its environments. Traditionally, the still life is a form of representation that shows in static form that which is time based and fleeting. If we understand the organic in part through the inevitability of death and decay, artworks that represent life are often framed as a measure of this outcome.