The entire collection is estimated at 15,000 collected leaves, we expect to complete photography in the summer of 2025.
Generation I Tables I – IV
The Damaged Leaf Dataset (DLD) is a collection of over 15,000 leaves collected in Colchester, Vermont, during the Lymnatria dispar (spongy moth) outbreaks of 2021 and 2022. The dataset is the foundational material of Phytomechatronics. Each collected leaf of the DLD was cleaned, pressed, and photographed by Jenn Karson and the Plant Machine Design Group.
Tables I – IV are pictured below. They share a selection of the first generation of leaves that fell during the outbreak. Ravenous caterpillars ate these leaves, activating their abstract forms said to look like mythical creatures, beasts, and continents of far away lands.
The DLD is at the heart of the recent exhibition
The Generative Tree.
To discover more broadly our interest in artist-made datasets, explore our other datasets and our advocacy for #OwnYourDataset.
Hover over the images below to zoom in.
