lord_whimsy ([info]lord_whimsy) wrote,
@ 2007-12-03 18:23:00
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Entry tags:organicism

PLANT-POWERED AIR FILTER


More about them here.

Upon first glance, they seem quite the thing. I appreciate the general sentiment and the groovy space age design, but isn't this gilding the lily? I mean, won't a mass of plants near a fan or breezy window be more elegant, attractive, effective and less wasteful? And why must everything--even living things--be a kind of machine? Seems a very twentieth-century way of looking at things, which is how we got into this mess in the first place. Instead, we should be figuring out how to make our machines into specimens. Besides, I prefer to have my plants out in the open, where I can enjoy them while they purify my air. No need to apologize for their decorative aspects--why impoverish ourselves so needlessly?

~W


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[info]sonoftomorrow
2007-12-03 11:47 pm UTC (link)
I'd go so far as to say that a plant is already quite a finely-crafted machine; a triumph of industrial design that not only cleans the air and delights the senses, but also handles most maintenance and even provides replacements to be employed in case of catastrophic malfunction.

One ought, I think, to consider these not as air purifiers so much as aesthetically deviant flower pots.

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[info]framework
2007-12-04 01:30 am UTC (link)
I love the profligate, Goldbergian waste inherent in the apparatus!

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[info]lord_whimsy
2007-12-04 03:15 am UTC (link)
Yes. It's industrial design-as-satire, isn't it? Do you think someone's intentionally pulling our collective leg here? I have my suspicions.

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[info]maggieb
2007-12-04 04:05 am UTC (link)
Looks as so. I say open a window.

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[info]chronographia
2007-12-04 04:11 am UTC (link)
Clearly they are Space Plants™ and as such are destined to fly between the stars, colonizing countless planets and asteroids.

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[info]a_kosmos
2007-12-04 04:26 am UTC (link)
Your description makes me smile!

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[info]lord_whimsy
2007-12-04 04:28 am UTC (link)
I for one welcome our waterbear overlords.

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Pod People, er, I mean Pod Pods.
[info]chronographia
2007-12-04 04:35 am UTC (link)
Well, we are a cheap, reliable source to milk CO2 from. They'll keep us in terrariums, and if we're lucky they'll include a hampster wheel.

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Re: Pod People, er, I mean Pod Pods.
[info]lord_whimsy
2007-12-04 05:33 am UTC (link)
Ah, to spend winters hibernating in a warm cheek pouch of a giant hamster!

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[info]drhypercube
2007-12-05 03:59 pm UTC (link)
When I looked at the picture, the first thing that came to mind was Silent Running. All we need are Huey, Louie and Dewey!

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[info]a_kosmos
2007-12-04 04:32 am UTC (link)
I'm guessing they're statement making plants, but my gardens always seem to end up being wild, exuberant things. They would break free of their pods.

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[info]fredchook
2007-12-04 03:46 pm UTC (link)
Now THAT would be something I'd keep on my shelf. A plant that cannot be contained.

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[info]a_kosmos
2007-12-05 06:58 am UTC (link)
The trick is in convincing them to stay on the shelf.

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[info]gemima_obrien
2007-12-04 11:12 pm UTC (link)
Circumspect when you take into account the amount of energy needed to make the products in the first place - the sustainability of the device is cancelled out.

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