BIODOCK WF- 4 Dragonfly
Elnara Nasirli, MXNZM
BIODOCK (Biological Docking) WF (Whispering Forest) 4 Dragonfly is a reactive installation designed for interaction by both pedestrians and mutant vehicles within a shared drive-through passage. Two elongated, leaf-like canopy wings form an open corridor that supports continuous circulation. By day, plant-derived sound is activated by touch beneath its leaf-like wings. By night, it illuminates- the wings intensifying and extending approaching vehicles.
Platanus wyomingensis (Sycamore fossil leaf)
Eocene Age (56 to 33.9 million years old)
Long after forests vanished and deserts expanded, a future civilization discovered that survival depended not on extracting, accelerating, or dominating, but on listening. In a time where trees are as ancient technologies, BIODOCK is modeled after Platanaceae leaves.
Grown in the desert, this giant bio-dock station from a new era consists of two elements - the Whispering Forest and the wings. The reclaimed trees beneath the wings act as memory vessels, data carried by trees—biological archives preserving patterns of growth and communication for millenia. They release vibrations—echoes of preserved plant intelligence that literally prints the flight canopy —which can be heard when tree embraced.
BIODOCK functions as an Axis Mundi, connecting ground and sky, biology and machine, and positioning the human body within this exchange as both listener and participant.
At night, approaching vehicles cause the wings to glow and extend, transforming passage into a living gateway shaped by the memory of trees.
Whispering Forest Technology
Whispering Forest is a site-specific installation composed of reclaimed, once-lifeless trees—remnants of ecosystems under strain—revived through breathlike whispers of custom sound technology. As participants wander between the trunks, these fallen giants murmur with the fragile pulse of resilience and renewal, transforming the vast openness of the Black Rock Desert into a sanctuary of listening. In their presence, even the wind seems to pause, inviting a contemplative encounter with what remains, and what could still be saved.
Threaded through each trunk are wire structures echoing mycelium networks—those ancient, hidden pathways through which forests share nourishment, warnings, and memory. These metallic lifelines recall the unseen systems that sustain both nature and human community, hinting at the quiet intelligence flowing beneath every thriving ecosystem. In their glow, the installation evokes Axis Mundi: the living bridge between the visible world and the veiled, trembling layers beneath it.
BIODOCK is a reactive installation designed for interaction by both pedestrians and mutant vehicles within a shared drive-through passage. Two elongated, leaf-like canopy wings form an open corridor that supports continuous circulation.
During daytime operation, interaction is human-scaled. Reclaimed tree trunks (Platanaceae family) in the Whispering Forest contain concealed motion sensors. These activate plant-derived audio of same species to be played by custom-built sound technology vibration and music is felt with the body when embracing the tree.
At night, motion sensors detect pedestrians and mutant vehicles. These activate a programmable lighting system integrated into the canopy. Light output scales with distance and movement, causing the wings to intensify with approaching vehicles, creating a responsive drive-thru experience, and become an extension of vehicle.
The system is designed for outdoor desert conditions, enabling seamless transition between day/night interaction modes.
Whispering Forest is an ongoing project sourcing trees from around the world - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, Italy, Germany - and reviving them through custom bone-conducting sound technology. It began with my late grandfather’s mulberry tree in Azerbaijan, connected to a living mulberry’s electrical signals. The work honors memory and reveals how trees endure through cooperation—offering a lesson to humanity, so often divided by conflict.
When hugged, each tree releases a pulse of music that is felt not heard, it moves through the body like a living echo.
