[...] Hylozoic Soil (2007) by Philip Beesley. The work of this architect constitutes a vestibule through which we, the visitors, will pass into another space and time, a biometric environment, a reactive space. This transformation occurs as we enter an “organic and living” system. These quasi-plants – all synthetic – come to life in the space, retracting, contracting, slackening and opening as we pass, creating in us a sense of both wonderment and anxiety. They trigger an emotional response from visitors, prompting them to “question the boundaries between nature and artifice and examine their own organic condition as they interact with technology.”Hylozoic Soil is one in a series of works by the artist that explores thenewest techniques and materials, interactive geotextiles and reflexive and responsive membranes, networks of actuated objects, and canvases composed of primitive interactive systems. The works use sensors and proximity detectors, muscle wires, actuators, and distributed networks of microprocessors.