What are the links between the common-knowledge found in a homemade tea recipe for treating labyrinthitis symptoms and the principles of data visualization?

The question above initiates an artistic investigation into the materiality of common knowledge and the relationship between humans, data, and the environment. Using the homemade tea recipe as a starting point, this artwork aims to connect pre-human and post-human data with digital media. We are attentive to scientific models, ancestral medicine recipes, and knowledge shared through non-European rituals and cultures.

The goal is simple: to visualize the amount of information contained within the simple act of drinking a cup of tea and its implications for historical ecosystems.

We chose the tea infusion—a product with a vast global history—as a way to explore data collection and recording. We see it as a process of categorization and visualization that has been present throughout human history. I choose one tea recipe made from five plants which, when combined, serve as a medicine for labyrinthitis, a condition that causes a loss of balance.We draw a parallel to Labyrinthitis—a disease that causes physical instability—because its symptoms are similar to those caused by data overload and digital visualizations. 

The recipe was discovered in an old book of medicinal teas belonging to my mother. These plants are easily found within Brazil's flora; we collected them in the Cerrado region, a vital Brazilian biome.