Another proposal about growing networks, all coming from reading I was doing as part of the AHRC and ACE arts and sciences research fellowship at Newcastle University. Nothing came of this specific idea, but it did turn into RFID Snakes and Ladders in the end.

There is a strange powerpoint presentation to go with this, in which I ask "What Will Happen When My Mobile Phone Develops a Sense of Smell?"

"Electric Gardens Grow Your World

The public places in a neighbourhood will be identified. These will include the post office, corner shop, pub, park bench, bus stop, children’s playground, church hall, polling station, and so on. Each of these places will be fitted with an RFID reader. Everyone taking part in Electric Gardens will then be given an RFID chip embedded in a key ring. This chip will hold no information other than a unique ID number, and this ID will not be related to any personal information whatsoever, not even a name, unless the person who holds the ID chooses to go online and register themselves. Each ID number is linked to an Electric Gardens allotment, and each time the ID is read in a public place, the plants in the linked allotment grow.

The Electric Gardens website will be a map of allotments, one for each person living in the neighbourhood. Each allotment will be fallow until someone starts to cultivate it by carrying an Electric Gardens’ key ring. If a person is taking part in Electric Gardens, but never registers their personal details, their allotment will grow wild flowers. These will grow just as strongly and as beautifully as a cultivated allotment.

Cultivated allotments will be created when someone taking part goes on to the website and submits a public user name and contact information (which will not be public). Having registered, they can then plant their own allotment, choosing which fruit, vegetables and flowers to grow. They can also place their allotment next to those of their friends.

As well as the permanent public places, groups of people can also register one-off public gatherings such as retirement parties, Bonfire Night or an Ann Summers party, so long as a minimum number of people go online register the event. A portable chip reader will be available to record these occasions.

Growing an Electric Garden offers the chance to harvest produce that itself nourishes public life, for example free cinema tickets, free swims at the local pool or journeys on public transport. Registering an allotment will allow people to choose which flowers and crops they would like to grow. The unregistered wild flower gardens will grow a random selection of produce. A text message will alert people when their crop has ripened or flowers are in bloom.

Nurturing a garden will be an end in itself. Visual artists will work with people taking part to create unique representations of flowers and plants for each garden, but these will only be revealed to other people in the neighbourhood if the garden is grown by the public life of the person taking part.

All the elements of Electric Gardens, from the nomination of the initial public places to the relative strength with which each public place should nourish the gardens, will be decided in consultation with the people of the neighbourhood."