Both men are drawn to the intersection of technology
and nature, which played out in a dramatic way at
the 2021 Autumn Lights Festival at The Gardens
of Lake Merritt in Oakland when Festival-goers
entered Palm Reflections, the name of Moore and
Shepard's installation. Visitors to Palm Reflections
were immersed in a nightscape of light and sound
generated by the electrical pulsations of plants (more
on that shortly). Shepard has a long history of dis-
assembling and rebuilding computers, and Moore
is an expert with audio programs and synthesis.
Their combined formidable skills were applied and
stretched in the three months between applying
to the festival and the weekend of the event.
The genesis of the idea for Palm Reflections came
from when Moore was living and working as an urban
forester in New York City. With the goal of merging
his passions for music and trees, he sought out Joe
Patitucci, founder of Data Garden, the company that
produced MIDI Sprout, now known as PlantWave.
This device can connect to plants via a pair of elec-
trodes and translates the plant's electrical impulses
into sound, creating melodic synthesized music.
Moore volunteered at a Queens outdoor music
venue and beer garden called Nowadays to learn
more about what it was like managing a venue,
with hopes of someday being able to create med-
itative greenspaces where people listen to music
generated by plants, inspiring peace and a con-
nectedness to nature. He learned more about
the practices of forest bathing and ecotherapy,
discovering fascinating research about the psy-
chological benefits of spending time in nature.
The plan was put on hold when Moore was offered
the job in California and packed up and moved with
his then-pregnant wife, Leyla. His department, City of
Oakland Parks and Tree Services, manages Oakland's
street trees, parks, and greenspaces. This includes
the Gardens of Lake Merritt, a hidden gem of a
7-acre (2.8 ha) botanical garden in Oakland's Lakeside
Park, the nation's first wildlife refuge. Moore had
volunteered in the Gardens and also attended their
annual fundraiser, known as the Oakland Autumn
Lights Festival. Moore describes the Festival, which
attracts 10,000 attendees each year, as akin to "a
mini Burning Man with larger-than-life psychedelic
art installations merging nature and technology."
David Moore attaching PlantWave electrodes to a fern in the Palmetum. Photo by Heather Alarab
32 CityTREES
