Biosphere Art

One of my new favorite blogs has an interesting interview about an artist in Seattle who is creating self contained biosphere's as art,her name is Vaughn Bell. It is a very fascinating subject to me, I am interested in peoples relationship to plants and the psychological response, which seems to be her focus.

My friend Brianna from Bastyr did a report once on the fact that driving out to the woods and just being in nature actually has a calming psychological affect and is being used as a treatment for children with ADHD and hyperactive disorders. Maybe the real reason for the epidemic of this disorder is disconnection from nature, not anything else. If I did research I think it would relate to such things.

I am also interested in the subject of how houseplants affect on our psyche, but also affect our health, since they can removed toxins from the air and oxygenate and moisturize a room. Houses and offices with live plants are healthier environments.

As an extrapolation on that idea I have also been exploring the idea in a futuristic fashion in my novel, how houseplants become vital commodities in the future and no building or vessel would dream of being without them. Humans try, but they can never truly escape nature, and really they shouldn't want to.

Anyway go check out the interview, also check out this book I found called How to Grow Fresh Air, by Dr. B.C. Wolverton to learn more about how vital houseplants are from research done at NASA for the space program.