"Cossettes" examines human-plant relationships through an immersive multimedia installation centered on sugar beet processing. The work investigates sugar beets' economic and cultural significance in central Michigan's (USA) landscape and economy since the 1890s, through multisensory engagement with their industrial transformation. Named after the V-shaped slices used in sugar extraction, "Cossettes" combines macro and microscopic experimental documentation with archival footage projected onto processing materials. The installation integrates a biofeedback sensor and modular synthesis to translate both human and plant biodata into a sonic environment, materializing the entangled relationship between human and vegetal life.
The installation's design references analog media technology, featuring a large-scale installation modeled after tape player mechanics. Custom-fabricated sprockets made from cheesecloth - a material central to hand sugar beet processing - hosts an endless loop of video projection. This mechanical system creates a conceptual bridge between industrial food processing and media reproduction. The performance audio undergoes a deliberate degradation process, being recorded through a synthesizer, computer, CDROM, and finally to cassette tape, creating "Cossette Cassette" that parallel the material transformation of sugar beets through hand processing in a failed attempt to mirror industrial practices.
Live performance demonstrates sugar extraction processes, producing beet pulp paper and candy in real-time, allowing audiences to directly engage with plant materiality through sight, sound, taste, and smell. This methodology aligns with recent developments in creative and participatory approaches to vegetal geography, while the focus on industrial processing speaks to plants' role in more-than-human political economies. By examining sugar beets through multiple conceptual and material layers, the project contributes to contemporary discussions about plant agency and human-plant relations, particularly in the context of agricultural production and regional identity. The work demonstrates how artistic practice can illuminate the complex ways vegetal life is experienced, imagined, and valued in both industrial and cultural contexts.