Plant Rhythms was the first set of GIFs originally conceptualised as a single piece. I wanted to explore the rhythm of digital editing in more detail so chose to film static shots of a house plant as I felt the naturally occurring set of patterns in each image would contrast against the digital feel of the editing. By filming a static object I also avoided any inherent sense of gesture or rhythm.
The GIFs were edited by reading the distance between each plant leaf (from the perspective of the camera) as a space-time notation score. Meaning, the distance between each leaf is approximately proportional to the length of the close up shot of that leaf. The tempo of each GIF was varied to create musical contrast.
The establishing shot at the beginning and black plate at the end of each GIF were added to punctuate every repetition of the loop, creating a striking visual isorhythm when all five GIFs are viewed together.
I find the overall effect of the editing similar to sample chopping techniques found within electronic music (See audio example).