https://plantfever.com Plant Fever Wed, 08 Dec 2021 18:45:45 +0000 https://plantfever.com en https://plantfever.com/Home Wed, 22 Jan 2020 12:49:32 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Home An exhibition to look at design from the perspective of plants Learn more → https://plantfever.com/Syntropic-Glossary-by-E-Morpurgo Wed, 08 Dec 2021 18:45:45 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Syntropic-Glossary-by-E-Morpurgo ︎ Journal December 17th, 2021 Syntropic Glossary Words as Guides Text © Eugenia Morpurgo This piece is the third chapter of a 4-part series written by Eugenia Morpurgo about her research project Syntropic Materials. Read the first part here The following definitions and citations refer to the main concepts that are nourishing my current research project, Syntropic Materials. Presented in the form of a glossary, they outline the framework in which my study is evolving and act as starting points for further reader insights. “To be truly visionary we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality while simultaneously imagining possibilities beyond that reality.” bell hooks, Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics (ed. Routledge, 2014)Plantationocene A concept introduced by Donna Haraway to describe this era in parallel with Anthropocene and Capitalocene. Using this term allows us to comprehend the current times through the lens of the plantation which, with the words of Haraway is: “radical simplification; substitution of peoples, crops, microbes, and life forms; multispecies forced labour; and, crucially, the disordering of times of generation across species, including human beings.” Sources: Reflections of the Plantationocece. A conversation between Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing. Moderated by Gregg Mitman. Edge Effects Magazine Sharing the Planet In opposition to the Half-Earth hypothesis, which suggests freeing half of the Earth’s surface from human presence, the Sharing the Planet approach, which would be applied on around 32% of the earth and sea surface, expresses the need to re-imagine biodiversity conservation strategies basing them on convivial conservation, as well as community-based and indigenous knowledge. These strategies are advocated alongside the importance of addressing the overconsumption of resources in industrialised and emerging countries and propose regenerative agricultural practices as a tool for biodiversity conservation. Sources: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/halfearth-or-whole-earth-radical-ideas-for-conservation-and-their-implications/C62CCE8DA34480A048468EE39DF2BD05/core-reader PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency data presented at the exhibition Countryside, The future (20.02.2020 - 15.02.2021, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York) Plant Blindness Defined in 1998 by American botanists James Wandersee and Elisabeth Schussler, Plant Blindness is "the inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment”. This lack leads to the dismissal of the importance that plants play in the biosphere, to the anthropocentric tendency of ranking plants as inferior to animals and to the consequential lack of care towards them. Source: W. Allen, "Plant Blindness", in BioScience, Vol. 53, Issue 10, 2003, p. 926 Cultural Keystone Species Cultural Keystone Species are species that significantly shape a people's cultural identity, having fundamental roles in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices. Source: A. Garibaldi and N. Turner, "Cultural Keystone Species: Implications for Ecological Conservation and Restoration", in Ecology and Society, Vol. 9, Issue 3, Art. 1, 2004 [link] Regenerative Agriculture Regenerative Agriculture is a system of principles and practices which, through farming, increase biodiversity, enrich soils, improve watersheds, and enhance ecosystem services. These practices allow the capturing of carbon in soil and above-ground biomass with the objective of reversing current global trends of CO2 atmospheric accumulation.Regenerative agriculture practices are: POLYCULTURE Polyculture, also known as intercropping, consists of the use of a selected mixture of crops on the same field. This farming method has been the primary one used worldwide throughout most of history. The biodiversity in the field allows creating a more resilient farming ecosystem that doesn’t depend on the yield of only one species which could be subject to failure due to external factors such as drought or pests. SYNTROPIC AGRICULTURE Syntropic Agriculture, also described as successional agroforestry, is a form of regenerative agriculture practice which mimics the relation between species in a highly biodiverse ecosystem, such as strata - the vertical layering of a habitat - and species natural succession (the changing of species through time). Sources: http://www.regenerativeagriculturedefinition.com/ &nbsp; Matthew E.S. Bracken, Monocultures Versus Polycultures. Encyclopedia of Ecology, Volume 3, 2019, Pp. 483-486 https://agendagotsch.com/en/what-is-syntropic-farming/ Monoculture “Monoculture is the agricultural practise of producing or growing a single crop, plant, or livestock species, variety, or breed in a field or farming system at a time. Widely used both in industrial and organic agriculture, monoculture has allowed increased efficiency in planting and harvesting while simultaneously augmenting the risk of exposure to diseases or pests.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoculture#Genetic_monocultures Terra Preta Literally translated with Black Earth, Terra Preta refers to zones of highly fertile earth present in a landscape characterised by low fertility in the central Amazon. Archaeological evidence indicates the anthropogenic origin of this fertility attributing its generation to “the activity of dispersed - but relatively large and settled - communities throughout millennia (from about 9.000 YBP). These communities were eliminated, presumably, by western disease approximately 1.000 YBP.”Source: S.P. Sohi, E. Krull, E. Lopez-Capel, R. Bol. Advances in agronomy, 2010 Seventh Generation Principle The Seventh Generation Principle, from the Great Lore of the Iroquois people, is based on the philosophy that we should all take into account that our actions will affect up to the seventh generation to follow. Teaching us that we should evaluate the sustainability of decisions taken today with the time perspective of the seven generations which will follow us. Source:Julia Watson, Lo-TEK Design by Radical Indigenism, Taschen, 2019 Honorable Harvest The Honorable Harvest is the indigenous canon of principles and practices which invites us to take only what we need and use everything we take. It “governs the exchange of life for life, it is a set of rules that governs our taking, shapes our relationships with the natural world, and reins in our tendency to consume.” Source:Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass. Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Milkweed Editions, 2013 “Jigsaw Mutualism” A term coined by Aboriginal Australian author Bruce Pascoe, Jigsaw Mutualism describes the way Aboriginal Australian law envisioned the management of land, which was supposed to be communally controlled by people who would be only temporal custodians of it. “People had rights and responsibilities for particular pieces of the jigsaw, but they were constrained to operate that piece so that it would add to - rather than detract from - the pieces of their neighbours and the epic integrity of the land.” Source:Bruce Pascoe, Dark Emu. Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture, Magabala Books, 2014 About the author Eugenia Morpurgo is an Italian designer based in Venice. Her work focuses on researching the impact that production processes have on society, with a focus on investigating and prototyping alternative scenarios and products. She works through self-initiated projects and commissioned work from companies, cultural institutions, universities and fablabs. www.eumo.it / @eugeniamorp https://plantfever.com/Leaving-no-Trace-by-L-Drouet Wed, 08 Dec 2021 10:42:05 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Leaving-no-Trace-by-L-Drouet ︎ Journal December 8th, 2021 Leaving no Trace Design as Fertile Practice Text © Laura Drouet Plants constantly nourish and give back to the biosphere through photosynthesis and by letting the matters that constitute their bodies find their way back to the soil. As such, they create and transform the world, turning it into a habitable and fertile place for all beings. Compared to plants’ earth-to-earth cycles, human-centred practices very rarely give back to the land what they extract from it (in this respect, design and architecture are no exceptions). By altering, exploiting, uprooting and polluting territories, humankind regularly jeopardises the life of plants, fungi, insects, other-than-human animals, and even that of its own species. As the environments we live in are more and more cluttered with non-recyclable stuff and “human-made materials now outweigh Earth’s entire biomass,” the time has come for us to rethink our footprint.What if we embraced plants’ way of life? What if our everyday objects were ephemeral or even seasonal? Not in the ways disposable plastic items are, but like the leaves of a tree that fall as autumn comes, nourishing the surrounding soil. This is what Eindhoven-based designer Steven Banken suggests with Sheaves, a simple bench made of branches from pruned reed and willow trees held together with four adjustable stainless-steel belts. Conceived in 2009 for the Biesbosch National Park in the Netherlands, the project embraces natural rhythms and decay: at the end of each summer, the branches with which the bench is made offer nesting materials for birds and insects or simply decompose, reintegrating into the cycle from which they were temporarily removed. <img width="2560" height="1706" width_o="2560" height_o="1706" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c6b55649894de551fc2a5985cd3459fca00366f56438319200d6fbb2ff56fe5a/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image---Sheaves-Reed--Steven-Banken.jpeg" data-mid="126821381" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c6b55649894de551fc2a5985cd3459fca00366f56438319200d6fbb2ff56fe5a/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image---Sheaves-Reed--Steven-Banken.jpeg" /><img width="1600" height="1063" width_o="1600" height_o="1063" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/788eabc67b5636c10cb147fc93b4bdc8a9a8912baeb0e7dc2e2e0faccaee7654/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Sheaves-Reed--Steven-Banken-1600x1063.jpeg" data-mid="126821382" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/788eabc67b5636c10cb147fc93b4bdc8a9a8912baeb0e7dc2e2e0faccaee7654/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Sheaves-Reed--Steven-Banken-1600x1063.jpeg" />The Sheaves bench by Dutch designer Steven Banken, 2009. Photos © Steven Banken <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c91d8f2611ca22b0083533590f0383db9d4a884e9c64c662f2625d49481ff619/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image--Still-from-video-Algae-Geographies_Atelier-Luma-Direction--Henriette-Waal-Camera---editing--Victor-Picon_1.jpeg" data-mid="126821443" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c91d8f2611ca22b0083533590f0383db9d4a884e9c64c662f2625d49481ff619/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image--Still-from-video-Algae-Geographies_Atelier-Luma-Direction--Henriette-Waal-Camera---editing--Victor-Picon_1.jpeg" /><img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/77992c6424da8c74187858abc29928608e0595fcbbb8579bfa6c2b3e2f181967/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image--Still-from-video-Algae-Geographies_Atelier-Luma-Direction--Henriette-Waal-Camera---editing--Victor-Picon_2.jpg" data-mid="126821444" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/77992c6424da8c74187858abc29928608e0595fcbbb8579bfa6c2b3e2f181967/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image--Still-from-video-Algae-Geographies_Atelier-Luma-Direction--Henriette-Waal-Camera---editing--Victor-Picon_2.jpg" />Stills from the video “Algae Geographies”. Direction: Henriette Waal; Camera &amp; editing: Victor Picon © Atelier Luma. Watch the video As anecdotal as it may seem, the web of connections that Sheaves creates is vast and powerful. The object becomes a temporary manifestation of the seasonal dynamics constituting Biesbosch National Park – from the gardeners that care for the trees necessary to the production of the bench to the living beings that process it after its disposal. It is the same vital potential that French philosopher Baptiste Morizot sees in his home worm composter which, inspired by Australian philosopher Val Plumwood, he describes as the “cosmology of the circulation of living energy” – a cosmology in which all beings, including humans, become “potential life to others”. What if more designers were to adopt this cosmology? Should everyday artefacts – including the shoes we wear and the chairs we sit on – be designed as offerings or gifts to other living beings, as Robin Wall Kimmerer suggests in her book Braiding Sweetgrass?At a time of planned obsolescence, some might find this paradoxical, but objects that can potentially go back to the soil without leaving traces have been part of our domestic landscapes for centuries. Think of wicker and palm tree leaf baskets, bamboo Shamojis, or linen and hemp clothing, not to mention non-vegetal matters such as leather and wool.From a design perspective, what these objects and materials also suggest is that decay enables perpetual rebirth, as knowledge is passed from one generation to the next and a symbiotic relationship of interdependence between humans and others is established and nurtured. Of course, this can only happen if the respectful bond between the people that create the objects and the beings that provided the matter remains intact. This can be an arduous task today, as many of the plants we use as resources are cultivated industrially, far from consumers’ sight. Shaping natural and cultural landscapes, the interwoven fates of humans and other living beings are more and more endangered by the advent of plastics, fast methods of production and over-consumption. The gulf of Oristano, in western Sardinia (Italy), is a example of such endangerment. Listed as a Ramsar site (a label that identifies wetlands of international importance), this coastal region encompasses a fragile Mediterranean ecosystem stretching over 200 kilometers, and shaped by an ancient weaving and harvesting tradition that can be traced back to the Neolithic. This practice relied on a deep connection between humans and the wetland’s rushes and reeds and was nearly erased with the introduction of plastics in the mid 20th century. Having lost the financial independence earned through the production of woven everyday objects – such as fish traps, cheese and bread baskets – as well as precious know-how, the local community is gradually disconnecting from the lagoon areas.Within the framework of the Maristanis conservation project – which acts locally to restore and protect the area’s wetlands – the think-tank and learning network, Atelier Luma, has been working since 2017 to reactivate the disappearing bonds between the people, plants and landscape in the area. In the agricultural village of San Vero Milis, its team of designers have joined forces with environmentalists and historians to work with local craftswomen to revitalise – but not freeze – weaving techniques and harvesting practices, cultivating inclusiveness, respect, empowerment and care through objects made of plants harvested in the wetlands.Like the mud houses designed by Austrian architect Anna Heringer with local communities in Bangladesh – whose ruins become fertile fields waiting for gardens to blossom – designed objects, and by extension we as consumers, should aim towards such lush balances, being fully aware of “our fragility, our mortality and our finitude,” in the words of American philosopher Donna Haraway.(This essay was originally published on The Planthunter on December 16th, 2020) <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/64e088abd7023d22d8279c64fa2934a3566b423c977971258ebca98251486508/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image---Collection-Zero-San-Vero-Milis---MEDSEA-and-Atelier-Luma.jpeg" data-mid="126821447" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/64e088abd7023d22d8279c64fa2934a3566b423c977971258ebca98251486508/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image---Collection-Zero-San-Vero-Milis---MEDSEA-and-Atelier-Luma.jpeg" /><img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1fda6e1fd678819120f3bc2bbe47710de06ffe1e3b043675fc0e5f29ee1405fd/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image--Still-from-video-Algae-Geographies_Atelier-Luma-Direction--Henriette-Waal-Camera---editing--Victor-Picon_3.jpeg" data-mid="126821445" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1fda6e1fd678819120f3bc2bbe47710de06ffe1e3b043675fc0e5f29ee1405fd/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Leaving-no-Trace--by-Laura-Drouet_Image--Still-from-video-Algae-Geographies_Atelier-Luma-Direction--Henriette-Waal-Camera---editing--Victor-Picon_3.jpeg" />Stills from the video “Algae Geographies”. Direction: Henriette Waal; Camera &amp; editing: Victor Picon © Atelier Luma. Watch the video Bibliography Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass : Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, Milkweed Editions, Sep 16, 2013 studio d-o-t-s, Skype interview with Anna Heringer, June 13th, 2019 Baptiste Morizot, Sur la piste animale, Actes Sud, 2018 About the author Born in France and holding a MA in Art History, Laura Drouet is an independent researcher and curator. Following her interest in botany and the relationships between humans and the vegetal world, in 2017 she conceived Plant Fever. She is the co-founder of the curatorial practice, studio d-o-t-s. studiodots.eu / @we_are_dots https://plantfever.com/Blurring-the-Boundaries-by-M-Declerfayt Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:15:40 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Blurring-the-Boundaries-by-M-Declerfayt ︎ Journal January 23rd, 2021 Blurring the Boundaries Botanical Bodies, or Becoming a Plant-human Chimaera Text &amp; images © Marie Declerfayt While the enhancement of the human body has traditionally been imagined within the frame of the mechanical and digital worlds - nourishing a cyborg narrative that is slowly becoming a reality - recent scientific discoveries have rendered it possible to modify previously overlooked organisms - such as plants - to develop innovative functions and serve original design purposes. Such findings enable us to imagine a new kind of trans-humanity, one in which vegetal matter might become an integral component of our body.Hybrids between species have historically been perceived as aberrations. As American anthropologist, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing points out, “category-crossing beings were abhorrent to Enlightenment ways of ordering the world. Later on, rationalisation meant individualisation, the creation of distinct and alienated individuals, human and non-human.” The individualisation of our bodies somehow produced a separation with other living beings, where to be human means to demonstrate a difference and taking advantage of other species - rather than collaborating with them - is the norm. But what if we became more prone to merging with non-human live forms instead of seeking to stand out?Botanical Bodies is a speculative design scenario I developed in 2019 which investigates this possibility. Using bones and wood as a case study for a human-plant hybridisation process, the project envisions a future in which plants could be employed as raw material to create human-compatible organs. Suggesting the opportunity of dissolving the distinctions between humans and plants, crowds and forests, bones and wood, Botanical Bodies paves the way to a novel and more sustainable synergy. Seeing wood not as an inert matter but as an organic and evolving element makes it possible to adopt a new perspective: the possibility of becoming a chimaera with a plant. <img width="1414" height="2000" width_o="1414" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fb0cbe28cfc8d493ee04e2b398686ee05de9cceb09c2545e6194cab62824df8f/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_FIBULA-TIBIA.jpg" data-mid="95936901" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fb0cbe28cfc8d493ee04e2b398686ee05de9cceb09c2545e6194cab62824df8f/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_FIBULA-TIBIA.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5d6e4fb3d1b26f5ff4a0009294636b155f49dde8dd749ce30c3cac5da2f1475/0-cover_Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_PC11.jpg" data-mid="95936900" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5d6e4fb3d1b26f5ff4a0009294636b155f49dde8dd749ce30c3cac5da2f1475/0-cover_Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_PC11.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1f7ac1581ce6910925e19148756db6dcdd24320c04a9dfeea6363442286b2b05/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_PC17.jpg" data-mid="95936905" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1f7ac1581ce6910925e19148756db6dcdd24320c04a9dfeea6363442286b2b05/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_PC17.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5bba8f386adea78d54813adab9abe69ebcca4753735c25a8800728a155ee3be9/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_PC12.jpg" data-mid="95936904" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5bba8f386adea78d54813adab9abe69ebcca4753735c25a8800728a155ee3be9/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_PC12.jpg" /> <img width="1784" height="2000" width_o="1784" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bd22d0ae1a5744dacf15df1fbbfd1f936d6a17ad1f8aa7e2cd544c9cf11ffa57/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_MAIN.jpg" data-mid="95936902" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bd22d0ae1a5744dacf15df1fbbfd1f936d6a17ad1f8aa7e2cd544c9cf11ffa57/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Blurring-the-Boundaries_Botanical-Bodies---Marie-Declerfayt_Image--Marie-Declerfayt_MAIN.jpg" /> From a human perspective, there is a lot we could gain from becoming a bit more plant. Entering into a symbiotic relationship with the vegetal realm would entail a different way of approaching life. It could represent the first step to create a mode of action that maintains - rather than threatens - the integrity of the ecosystems we are part of. Understanding our bodies in relation to other species would, in fact, help us perceive ourselves as part of a broader, interconnected network of living beings rather than individuals defined by seemingly unique characteristics. By establishing a symbiosis with other organisms based on care and respect, we could strike a better balance between the worlds of human and non-human others. Blurring species boundaries might help us go beyond our conception of the vegetal world as a passive, unconscious resource for human use and open us to a shared, embodied existence of cooperation, collaboration and consciousness.This short essay illustrates some of the thoughts behind Botanical Bodies, a project developed by French designer Marie Declerfayt which is part of Plant Fever’s travelling exhibition. Read more about Declerfayt’s research here Bibliography Heather Anne Swanson, Elaine Gan, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing and Nils Bubandt, Art of Living on a damaged planet: Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene, University Of Minnesota Press, 2017 Anna Tampieri, Simone Sprio, Andrea Ruffini, Giancarlo Celotti, Isidoro Giorgio Lesci and Norberto Roveri, “From wood to bone: multi-step process to convert wood hierarchical structures into biomimetic hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering”, Journal of Material Chemistry, Issue n°28, 2009 Jeffrey T. Nealon, Plant Theory : Biopower and Vegetable Life, Stanford University Press, 2009 About the author Fascinated by the human body as a set of infinitely complex biological mechanisms, French designer Marie Declerfayt uses art as a translation tool between the microscopic and the tangible, the current and the speculative, the known and the to be discovered. mariedeclerfayt.eu / @m4r13_d3cl3rf4y7 https://plantfever.com/Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir Fri, 04 Dec 2020 17:00:39 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir ︎ Journal Dec. 4th, 2020 Creole Poietic Little Stories of Plants in the French West Indies: Between Creation, Resistance and Resilience Text &amp; illustrations © dach&amp;zephir This piece is the second chapter of a 2-part article written by French duo dach&amp;zephir about Éloj Kréyol, their ongoing research around the notion of creolisation and the post-colonial landscape of the Antilles islands. Read the first part here <img width="1028" height="1512" width_o="1028" height_o="1512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/02beeada80d8d62be678b7f7abe35b65c38bb9efc8ed28388e206a057975b6ae/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_3_Collage--dach-zephir---grenn-a-malere.jpg" data-mid="91072062" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/02beeada80d8d62be678b7f7abe35b65c38bb9efc8ed28388e206a057975b6ae/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_3_Collage--dach-zephir---grenn-a-malere.jpg" /> Among the many stories of "creolisation through plants", those of the grenn a maléré, the bwa lélé, the coui and the balé zo are particularly interesting because of the capacity of these plants to become tools of creation, resistance and resilience.The grenn a maléré or "green job" a wild seed turned into jewellery The grenn a maléré (Coix lacryma-jobi, in Latin; Job's-tears, in English) is a tall, perennial grass that grows in wet ditches or flooded areas. It is recognisable by its leaves - which are similar to those of sugarcane - and it forms a seed from which greenish flowers emerge in spikes. While the places where it grows are generally unattractive, its seed on the other hand arouses significant curiosity. Oval in shape, its colour varies from greenish to bluish grey and brown. When the styles of the flower are removed, what is left is a hard and shimmering pearl, whose colourful - almost iridescent - effects render it similar to the mother-of-pearl produced by oysters.Naturally pierced on both sides, this seed-pearl suggests decorative and contemplative uses which did not go unnoticed among the slaves of Guadeloupe and Martinique, who seized its potential as a response to the restrictions the French imposed on them. From the 1720s, the colonial authority had, in fact, put in place sumptuary laws which defined a "stylistic" code for slaves. These could not wear certain fabrics - notably lace and silk - and gold jewellery, for instance, as such materials were social markers of colonial society; as symbols of wealth and power, they were the prerogative of the ruling class - the white masters. By making ornaments from the seeds of Job's-tears - which can be easily slipped on a thread - the slaves perpetuated the ancient practice of making jewellery from plants. Necklaces, bracelets, and even rosaries became a means of overturning the established order. By wearing these adornments during weekend meetings between slaves, they (especially women) sought to represent themselves as equal to white people magnified by their costumes and jewels whose pearly colour was surprisingly similar to these wild seeds collected from ditches. These meetings, that the slaves approached as spaces of freedom, were also the opportunity to mock the white bourgeoisie and its attitude. Later on, because of their recurrent use by the poorest, carrying these seeds would become a sign of misery. This was probably a tentative of the white society to end the practice.The bwa lélé, the coui and the balé zo plants helping everyday life Originally, the bwa-lélé (Quararibea turbinata, in Latin; swizzle stick tree, in English) is a shrub - max. 6 metres high - that can be found in meso-hydrophilic zones typical of the mountainous regions of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Although recognisable by its large leaves - which can be up to 12 cm wide and that make the sound of crumpled plastic tablecloths when you compress them between your fingers - its picking remains a well-kept secret to this day. The "multi-level" architecture of the plant appears as a gift from nature: five horizontal branches start from the intersections on the main axis - the trunk - creating a propeller-like shape; each one of these intersections reproduces the same architectural principle. By cutting one of these joints and keeping part of the trunk stripped of its bark, you can obtain a bwa-lélé, a small forked stick that is used to stir drinks. According to the locals, this tool was inherited from the Karayib peoples during the short period of cohabitation between them and the first slaves; just like its cutting ritual which must correspond to a specific phase of the moon so that the shrub can continuously reproduce new growth. Today, the bwa-lélé is considered a traditional instrument of Creole cuisine and is associated with the preparation of the typical ti-punch cocktail and local soups like the migan. <img width="1033" height="1512" width_o="1033" height_o="1512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f379b5a35404a93e8b62ccccc54bfd2d5a665453bec3012a88fd282a15b991a1/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_3_Collage--dach-zephir---bwa-lele.jpg" data-mid="91071088" border="0" data-scale="74" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f379b5a35404a93e8b62ccccc54bfd2d5a665453bec3012a88fd282a15b991a1/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_3_Collage--dach-zephir---bwa-lele.jpg" /> <img width="1033" height="1512" width_o="1033" height_o="1512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9ed220197092c1399c84586c28ff12f3789cdfeca771fcd734b1a30632d4be4/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_3_Collage--dach-zephir---couis.jpg" data-mid="91071089" border="0" data-scale="74" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b9ed220197092c1399c84586c28ff12f3789cdfeca771fcd734b1a30632d4be4/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_3_Collage--dach-zephir---couis.jpg" /> <img width="1033" height="1512" width_o="1033" height_o="1512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0a197435e935c70525734cd537dcdff6593992fb5f34238d27516329204d9fb3/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_2_Collage--dach-zephir---bale-zo.jpg" data-mid="91071087" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0a197435e935c70525734cd537dcdff6593992fb5f34238d27516329204d9fb3/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Creole-Poietic-by-dach-zephir_2_Collage--dach-zephir---bale-zo.jpg" /> Other objects, inherited from the same period, testify of original forms of "everyday invention". The coui, for instance, are containers - whose size can vary from that of a tablespoon to that of a vessel - obtained from the calabash tree. The fruits of the plant, the calabashes, are sorts of shells. Emptied of their content - which is highly poisonous for humans - they are cut in half, washed and dried in the sun. Lightweight, waterproof, relatively resistant and easy to manufacture, coui have always been a practical answer to the need for easy transport and content transfers, becoming 'super-normal' objects essential for life.Similarly, the balé zo - a type of brooms - are produced quickly and simply from flexible and sturdy shrub stems - that serve as handles - and leaves selected according to the vegetation available in the area. Entirely plant-based, the balé zo were used to clean the immediate surroundings of the cases à nègre (the name for the buildings in which slaves used to live in Guadeloupe and Martinique) and later on to polish drainage channels. Like the bwa-lélé and the coui, the balé zo are among the testimonies of the ingenuity that originated in the frame of the sugarcane plantations and the search for a better quality of life. Bibliography Servane Chauchix &amp; Hector Poullet, Graines des Antilles, PLB Éditions, 2004 Séverine Laborie, « La représentation d'une société coloniale complexe », Histoire par l'image, accessed on June 4th, 2020 dach&amp;zephir, “Palé an ka koutéw” - collection of vocal histories about creole culture, 2015 – ongoing research About the authors Graduates of the National School of Decorative Arts of Paris, Dimitri Zephir and Florian Dach founded dach&amp;zephir in 2016. Mixing fervour and poetry, their projects echo the thinking of Martinican poet Édouard Glissant and celebrate the urgent and necessary diversity of the world.&nbsp;dachzephir.com / @dach.zephir / @eloj.kreyol https://plantfever.com/When-Life-Gives-You-Roses-by-C-McDowell Fri, 13 Nov 2020 15:47:25 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/When-Life-Gives-You-Roses-by-C-McDowell ︎ Journal November 13th, 2020 When Life Gives You Roses A Design Investigation about the Potential of Rose Oil for the Kenyan Horticulture Industry Text &amp; images © Coltrane McDowell I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. When I was a kid, every year with my family, we would visit friends who lived next to the Tambuzi rose farm, in the Mount Kenya region. To get to their house, you had to cross the farm property. It was a beautiful place - sun filtered through tall eucalyptus trees and the Burguret river mumbled as it cut the land in two. On entering, I had never paid much attention to the white tented greenhouses scattered around the property. Sheltered beneath the awnings, small flecks of pink, cream and red budding for the harvest. I had known flowers were a major export; you could see the residue of the economy sold on the roadsides in Nairobi, 300 shillings a small bunch. However, tucked under, sheltered from the heat, dry wind, and dust, I had rarely noticed them.In March of 2020, roses were all I could think of. I had returned to Kenya from The Netherlands set on starting a social enterprise involving distillers in the capital to produce essential oils for a local perfume. Two days after my arrival into the country, the borders had closed. The COVID-19 pandemic I had left Europe for the safety of Kenya had followed in the jet stream. Rumours travelled in the air with fear and mistrust: the disease was brought by white people; it was the Chinese disease; Kenyans were immune, or they would die sooner. Too many stories and too many what 'ifs'. No one knew, and some friends I had made in the distilling community suggested that I leave. <img width="1600" height="1548" width_o="1600" height_o="1548" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d096e0d4e32fe8129ef2388cdccc41ea1381763a3b793ce4bc1ba8792b788688/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_7.jpg" data-mid="88726722" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d096e0d4e32fe8129ef2388cdccc41ea1381763a3b793ce4bc1ba8792b788688/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_7.jpg" /> <img width="1592" height="1465" width_o="1592" height_o="1465" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c23a0b897193fa9948e4ca3bd4d1f4295e6492b4ac96c8abbba633dd10816791/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_6.jpg" data-mid="88726721" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c23a0b897193fa9948e4ca3bd4d1f4295e6492b4ac96c8abbba633dd10816791/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_6.jpg" /> <img width="1600" height="1498" width_o="1600" height_o="1498" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/efbe15834a92289fd58b73e8e807cdf181481ee20f941562ed33122457fda068/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_8.jpg" data-mid="88726723" border="0" data-scale="67" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/efbe15834a92289fd58b73e8e807cdf181481ee20f941562ed33122457fda068/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_8.jpg" /> It was around this time that the economy of Kenya went into crisis. The significant connection of Kenyan roses to the European market had major effects within the country. The world saw images of flowers dumped in the millions in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. This devastation was acute in the largest flower auction house in the world. There were fewer who saw what the mountains of roses left to wither signalled for the Kenyan economy.Life had given me roses. The circumstances of working in a pandemic were far from perfect, but here was an opportunity. I still had drawings and sketches, and I knew how the distillation of roses could work. Rose oil is one of the most expensive fragrant materials on the market, and with thousands of roses being dumped daily, the idea of trying to capture some of this loss had a magnetic attraction for me. It was at this moment that I thought of the Tambuzi rose farm.The majority of roses that leave Kenya carry no scent. The roses you see in grocery stores were probably sold at the Aalsmeer auction house. They are cut at a very early stage of flower size to ensure they do not bloom too quickly. Scented roses tend to open too fast, depending on the variety: it is a product loss, a waste. They are unmanageable for a supply chain system that requires predictability and control. The Tambuzi farm dealt in luxury scented roses; roses that would open in your vase after a few hours and scent the function they were intended for in a heavenly aroma. Scented flowers would be the only varieties that could produce fragrance, let alone any minuscule drops of the precious oil. When I arrived on the farm, I went and spoke to Tim, the owner. I was surprised to learn that he had already been thinking about rose oil. What would rose oil mean for the Kenyan flower economy? And how could it be marketed at a product gain, not a loss? I had initially thought I had found a solution, but after speaking with Tim, the costs alone to produce the oil would not provide a return on investment. Although it is an expensive product, it is equally costly to produce, hence the high price it fetches. Flower production in the country would have to shift from the appearance of the rose and focus solely on its scent. This meant stripping greenhouses and irrigation systems to allow for open-air plots and planting other rose varieties. What Tim could give me, was space, workforce and support to attempt my own distillation experiments. For three months, I worked on the farm, distilling thousands of roses. Based on distillation models I had seen in Nairobi, I made a low-cost design sourcing material from the neighbouring town, Nanyuki. I would bring wheelbarrows full of heavenly scented flowers, and gently pluck the buds. The distillation drum smelled godly. The first few tests resulted in a smell akin to boiled cabbage, the pinks and creams turned to pasty white and black. It was by the end of the first week that I obtained a liquid with a fragrance reminiscent of the one I had found before distilling, and there on top a small film of precious oil.As time went on, I began to learn more about the methods of distilling roses. I also learnt more about Kenya's fragile flower relationship with the world, its lucrative appeal, and the major connection Kenya has with The Netherlands. Operations expanded from one distiller to three, from one person to five. As I went around the farm, hearing news of the daily spread of the virus and the economic fallout that was already reaching places like Tambuzi, something like hope stirred within me. I would extend that while the precariousness of the situation was felt across the farm, the act of engaging in rose oil distillation had a similar therapeutic effect for others. <img width="1600" height="1588" width_o="1600" height_o="1588" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/426b5a1cef07516de275243d7acc5380f6496645656c7bdd03a06962f0356cc2/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_9.jpg" data-mid="88726724" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/426b5a1cef07516de275243d7acc5380f6496645656c7bdd03a06962f0356cc2/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_9.jpg" /><img width="1232" height="1400" width_o="1232" height_o="1400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d887e9340a11f381bf7c286b2739485b9e0a88995ffa9945da2ff9e140eb7fc/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_5.JPG" data-mid="88726720" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d887e9340a11f381bf7c286b2739485b9e0a88995ffa9945da2ff9e140eb7fc/Plant-Fever-exhibition_When-Life-Gives-You-Roses_Photo--Coltrane-McDowell_5.JPG" /> A small bottle on my table is the relic of what remains. Through the process of trying to capture the economic loss, I inevitably found a new way of carrying on with living. Kenya is currently at 60 per cent of its original flower exportation, and things are likely to go back to some economic state of 'normal'. The precariousness of this industry remains, and there is no clear indication of how it will be better prepared in the future. That a flower with a shelf life of a week at best has become the basis of a multi-billion-dollar industry seems confounding. Then again, most things were taken for granted until this year happened. Rose oil production could become a new way forward for the horticultural sector in Kenya. It would mean less investment in greenhouses, and perhaps when I would drive up to Tambuzi, I would see fields of pink dancing in the wind. Until the day comes, I often open the small bottle that sits on my shelf, with all those roses I watched get packed inside. The fragrance slowly comes to life - sweet and tart - as I take in those memories shaded by eucalyptus trees and the mumbling Burguret river cutting the land in two. Bibliography Zeke Faux et al., “The Crash of the $8.5 Billion Global Flower Trade”, Bloomberg, 17 Apr. 2020 (accessed April 27, 2020) “Flower Power”, Research &amp; Development, 14 May 2020 Bruno Latour, “What Protective Measures Can You Think of so We Don’t Go Back to the Pre-Crisis Production Model?”, 2020 (accessed May 26, 2020) About the author A graduate of the master’s programme in Social Design at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Coltrane McDowell is an artist and designer based in Rotterdam, where he is currently setting up his own studio practice. He often works with the medium of film as a documentary approach to design within given social systems. coltranemcdowell.com / @coltrane_mcdowell https://plantfever.com/Designing-with-the-Living-by-Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti Sat, 24 Oct 2020 17:26:55 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Designing-with-the-Living-by-Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti <img width="2500" height="846" width_o="2500" height_o="846" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/80b073f6ff4c4051ab4de0ede81fc8530a36465ab51559e8d94e1dcfa909a4fe/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Collage--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Progetto-del-nuovo-Orto-Botanico-di-Bologna--concorso-a-inviti-2019_4b.jpg" data-mid="86567106" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/80b073f6ff4c4051ab4de0ede81fc8530a36465ab51559e8d94e1dcfa909a4fe/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Collage--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Progetto-del-nuovo-Orto-Botanico-di-Bologna--concorso-a-inviti-2019_4b.jpg" /> ︎ Journal Oct. 24th, 2020 Designing [with] the Living The Garden as the Place of MysteryText &amp; images © Rebediani Scaccabarozzi Paesaggisti “A garden is not an object but a process”Ian Hamilton Finlay has managed to say a lot - perhaps everything - about the most intimate structure of gardens. Being able to see landscapes as sequences of events and recognising the processes that generated them are essential operations when designing them. It may take time, but both the creator and the keeper of a garden must always hold in mind that the object of their work is not an inactive matter that will be 'ready' in 2-3 years, but indeed a succession of interwoven scenarios that keep growing and evolving. Developing a garden is a conversation between the site, the context, the client, the plants, the sun, the shade and us. As landscape designers, our role is that of listening to the intertwining of all these stories - which are often only whispered - and then try to realise a project by expanding the character of the place.A garden is not about usOur gardens are very different from each other. We are not interested in building a 'recognisable sign'; we wish to give shape to a process full of meaning. We think in architectural terms - constructing basements, arches, vaults, portals and passages, arranging pauses, working in terms of perspective - and then add the element of time. It is not possible to build an arboreal vault, for instance, but it is possible to prepare the conditions for a series of processes that will lead to its constitution. For us, this becomes a cinematographic process, in which each plant is a flow of images, often seductive and in constant change. As Gertrude Stein says, “a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose,” but it is not the same the next morning. It is a matter of knowing - and having the ability to predict - the processes that will characterise each plant and its context. This is perhaps the main challenge and, at the same time, the charm of the work we do. It requires a large amount of time spent near the plants. To learn their cycles and to witness that, as much as they define an environment, plants are also shaped by it. This interdependent relationship structures the design experience. Working with living material, we cannot indulge in formal desires looking only at the aesthetic features of plants. We must welcome and dialogue with their functional and physiological needs too. <img width="2000" height="1338" width_o="2000" height_o="1338" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7f61fb2e0655814d4e73d7e9f2bb8893d9033a2d2cda067732164823cfe2e049/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Collage--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Progetto-del-nuovo-Orto-Botanico-di-Bologna--concorso-a-inviti-2019_2.jpg" data-mid="86567101" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7f61fb2e0655814d4e73d7e9f2bb8893d9033a2d2cda067732164823cfe2e049/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Collage--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Progetto-del-nuovo-Orto-Botanico-di-Bologna--concorso-a-inviti-2019_2.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1338" width_o="2000" height_o="1338" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a1292e10d5ded318255d014370f9e369835ff6a14f66b8fc86faff0a0203e538/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Collage--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Progetto-del-nuovo-Orto-Botanico-di-Bologna--concorso-a-inviti-2019_3.jpg" data-mid="86567104" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a1292e10d5ded318255d014370f9e369835ff6a14f66b8fc86faff0a0203e538/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Collage--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Progetto-del-nuovo-Orto-Botanico-di-Bologna--concorso-a-inviti-2019_3.jpg" /> Collages: project for the new Botanical Garden of Bologna, competition by invitation (2019) <img width="800" height="1270" width_o="800" height_o="1270" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa31bae0ff72d52f9cf143c4660ee5e26f2d9065a6c09a28041a18d2840e6e91/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Photo--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Planting-di-Abraxa-insieme-ai-ragazzi-di-Space-Caviar-2020.jpg" data-mid="86567110" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/aa31bae0ff72d52f9cf143c4660ee5e26f2d9065a6c09a28041a18d2840e6e91/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Photo--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Planting-di-Abraxa-insieme-ai-ragazzi-di-Space-Caviar-2020.jpg" />Planting of Abraxa with the team of Space Caviar (2020) The garden as a living archiveThe characteristics of each context can be considered as design tools that influence the choice of plant species to be used; at the same time, such characteristics also determine the shape of the plants themselves. Take the case of shady environments: the vast majority of plants that grow there have very large leaves (which enable them to capture as much light radiation as possible), their foliar lamina is much thinner than those growing in sunny spots (as they need less 'protection' from direct radiation) and they have a deeper green shade because of the amount of chlorophyll they contain. For us, functional characteristics such as these constitute the basis of an archive that we can draw on to design and express the character of each new project site. The archive becomes an interpretation tool that we can use to understand better the evolution of the gardens we conceive. It is essential to keep an open dialogue with those who live and take care of the sites, learning how plants react to the existing environmental conditions. It is crucial to understand if our predictions have come true and if clients have developed a relationship with the gardens. We need to keep track of all the growth phases. Just as an archive is created upstream of the project - from which we get inspiration - an archive is formed downstream, in which we collect all the data of the processes we triggered. A garden must be attendedThe archives that we conceive also become proof of the frequentation of the gardens, which, unlike natural environments, require constant care and observation. We must not forget that a garden exists only in relation to a person who takes care of it or enjoys its fruits. If such a relationship does not exist, we are in the presence of a different environment, no less significant, but different. Designing a garden, therefore means creating a system of relationships that also include those between plants and people, of which the waiting for a flower or a perfume is an integral part. One of the tools we use to imagine and manage the relationship between the garden and those who will take care of it is the ‘maintenance plan’. It is a document that lists the various human interventions required to preserve the decided meanings over time, as well as the features of the seasonal cycle of the garden itself. At the same time, the document summarises our predictions regarding the changes and growth processes of the designed environment. But, as it always happens with living systems, the real evolution of a garden is very complex and full of surprises, even when one tries to make the most accurate forecasts.A garden for Z33 - House of Contemporary ArtAmong our recent projects that most embody these instances is that of the gardens of the new wing of the Z33 - House for Contemporary Art in Hasselt (Belgium), a building that features four open rooms that dialogue with the sky. These rooms are interior gardens. The exhibition programme of Z33 is characterised by temporary shows and public spaces that define a certain rhythm of visitor attendance. The same rhythm, therefore, also guided the choice of plants, which we juxtaposed to offer ever-changing scenarios. We deemed it essential to conceive a garden that would establish an empathic relationship with the public, so that, visit after visit, people could fall in love with different elements: a perfume, a dishevelled flower, of a leaf defined by its bold architecture. This somehow creates a situation where visitors can feel nostalgic for the freshness of a flower that won't return until the next year. To design these scenarios, we looked at plants as processes rather than objects, and we intertwined these flows in changing gardens. Some plants recur in all four gardens and together highlight the spatial qualities of each of them, defining an organism characterised by its variety. The gardens are all brothers, but each with their own personality. <img width="800" height="1331" width_o="800" height_o="1331" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ee251e20356fbbdf6021ccee35bddd3abecbc72bafb7be4af9760a307e88ddc/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Photo--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Planting-dei-Giardini-di-Z33-House-for-Contemporary-Art--Design--Architecture-Hasselt-2020_2.jpg" data-mid="86567109" border="0" data-scale="87" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/8ee251e20356fbbdf6021ccee35bddd3abecbc72bafb7be4af9760a307e88ddc/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Photo--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Planting-dei-Giardini-di-Z33-House-for-Contemporary-Art--Design--Architecture-Hasselt-2020_2.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="1270" width_o="800" height_o="1270" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ad2d21ed4368923add3079f53ec677ea2e55b4b1bb77cb77f928d532f6957c7b/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Photo--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Planting-dei-Giardini-di-Z33-House-for-Contemporary-Art--Design--Architecture-Hasselt-2020_1.jpg" data-mid="86567108" border="0" data-scale="87" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/ad2d21ed4368923add3079f53ec677ea2e55b4b1bb77cb77f928d532f6957c7b/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Designing-with-the-Living_Photo--Rebediani-Scaccabarozzi-Paesaggisti_Planting-dei-Giardini-di-Z33-House-for-Contemporary-Art--Design--Architecture-Hasselt-2020_1.jpg" />Planting of the Gardens of Z33 - House for Contemporary Art, Design, Architecture Hasselt (2020) Reading suggestions John Dixon Hunt, Nature Over Again. The Garden Art of Ian Hamilton Finlay, Reaktion Books, 2008 Julian Raxworthy, Overgrown. Practices Between Landscape Architecture &amp; Gardening, MIT Press, 2018 Robert Pogue Harrison, Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition, University of Chicago Pr, 2008 About the authors Rebediani Scaccabarozzi Paesaggisti is a landscape architecture studio founded in 2018 in Milan by Lorenzo Rebediani and Vera Scaccabarozzi. The duo designs with living material by listening to its connection with the environment, its needs and desires, as well as by reading the interweaving of the ecological, aesthetic and cultural aspects of landscapes. vslr.it / @lorenzorebediani /&nbsp;@vera_scaccabarozzi https://plantfever.com/How-to-Eat-Your-Cactus-by-J-Georgallis Wed, 05 Aug 2020 10:52:19 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/How-to-Eat-Your-Cactus-by-J-Georgallis <img width="2000" height="676" width_o="2000" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a02fe69067d1a4137c492f9314e065781a6b4e1ced770c7ed7b2899e819e701d/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Julia-Georgallis_1_Header-image_Cactus-road-trip-2_Photo--Julia-Georgallis--2018.jpg" data-mid="79166321" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a02fe69067d1a4137c492f9314e065781a6b4e1ced770c7ed7b2899e819e701d/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Julia-Georgallis_1_Header-image_Cactus-road-trip-2_Photo--Julia-Georgallis--2018.jpg" /> ︎ Journal Aug. 5th, 2020 How to Eat Your CactusEating for Adversity Text &amp; images © Julia Georgallis This piece is the second chapter of a 2-part article written by Julia Georgallis about her research on edible cacti. Read the first part here It is perhaps understandable why cacti and succulents have been overlooked as an agricultural crop. Though they require little water or affection and are happy in most climates, they are inefficient growers and painful to harvest, requiring nerves of steel and nimble fingers. But with the threat of desertification that may render some of the world’s most important agricultural landscapes barren, these plucky plants are perfect candidates for providing humans with a lifeline when global warming does its worst. Cacti and succulents have been eaten for centuries by many desert communities - the Native American Tohono O’odham tribe pluck the prickly cholla’s nutrient-dense bud in the spring to be dried and stored for the rest of the year. Stone crops grow quickly and are perfect as salad-leaf alternatives. And, even when we may lose land to rising sea levels, we can still keep eating sea succulents such as karkalla, samphire, land seaweed and sea purslane. <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bd2a3c7896d8adadc2ea1bdc101c8d18e2c788f4858b857b6182b14e00ef8f9f/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Julia-Georgallis_2_Cactus-road-trip-1_Photo--Julia-Georgallis--2018.jpg" data-mid="79167352" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bd2a3c7896d8adadc2ea1bdc101c8d18e2c788f4858b857b6182b14e00ef8f9f/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Julia-Georgallis_2_Cactus-road-trip-1_Photo--Julia-Georgallis--2018.jpg" /> Many of us have already eaten some form of cactus or succulent without being aware of it - beautiful dragon fruit comes from the pitaya cactus and, as a sticky-mouthed child in Cyprus, I munched happily on pink prickly pear fruit. More recently, on a trip to Mexico, I was introduced to the nopal: the green, fleshy part of the prickly pear which I would never have thought edible. Nopal is okra-like - it can be ground down into flour and used to make tortillas, or brined and eaten in salads, tacos, stews and burritos. Lately, health brands have started touting ‘nopal water,’ purportedly full of antioxidants, reminding us of cowboys in Westerns cutting the tops off cacti and drinking the water inside. This is a piece of fake news - nopal is full of vitamins, but cacti and succulents are not full of drinking water, and nopal water is just prickly pear fruit juice. This belief, however, does come from some understanding of these plants as protective, offering respite from a desert sun. The aloe vera fits this bill - no stranger to the medicine man, its gel is used for sunburn, rashes and blemishes. Already popular in Asia, it can also be eaten and aloe vera ‘water’ is said to help with digestive issues. In Ancient Egypt, aloe vera was revered, seen as magical and healing and buried with pharaohs to protect them in their afterlife. <img width="1600" height="1600" width_o="1600" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cfa869a5620b85dc5f4a4aa47a0c0129b142fb7ef1a284b4734d76453186ca95/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Julia-Georgallis_3_Cactus-road-trip-3_Photo--Julia-Georgallis--2018.jpg" data-mid="79167454" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cfa869a5620b85dc5f4a4aa47a0c0129b142fb7ef1a284b4734d76453186ca95/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Julia-Georgallis_3_Cactus-road-trip-3_Photo--Julia-Georgallis--2018.jpg" /> Some cacti and succulents may also be able to heal rifts caused by the dark side of the agricultural industry. Agave, also known as maguey, has built up a reputation as a ‘healthier’ sugar alternative. Though there is little evidence to support this, agave syrup doesn’t have sugar’s sinister history, steeped in slavery and exploitation. The syrup is also a vegan honey substitute, counteracting the over-production of honey that damages global bee communities. Important to many Mesoamerican civilisations, maguey was closely tied to deities of fecundity, used for ceremonies in the forms of tequila and mezcal, which are made by fermenting the blue agave. Cacti and succulents may provide us with the answer to feeding ourselves in the face of climate adversity but would we, as a race of over 7 billion-and-counting be able to survive on them alone? Absolutely not - the past proves that we need agricultural diversity so as not to put too much pressure on any one ecosystem. But we should at least stop viewing the desert as an infertile and inhospitable place and that, when things eventually do get tough, all we need to do is look beyond the thorns and use our resources differently. Bibliography The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health, ‘Food in the Anthropocene: The Eat-Lancet commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’ (2019). Date accessed: 1st February 2020 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ‘Global Warming of 1.5oC’ (2018). Date accessed: 14th November 2018 The Guardian &amp; The Pacific Standard, ‘This Land is Your Land’ (2020). Date accessed: February 14th 2020 About the author Julia Georgallis is a baker who used to be an industrial designer. She is the author of cookbook,&nbsp;How to eat your Christmas tree and runs micro-bakery,&nbsp;The Bread Companion as well as various other side hustles. Her work revolves around looking at food as a design solution and as an educative, empowering tool. www.juliageorgallis.co.uk / @juliageorgallis https://plantfever.com/Green-Shields-by-dach-zephir Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:53:29 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Green-Shields-by-dach-zephir ︎ Journal June 26th, 2020 Green Shields The "Creolisation of Plants" in the Colonial Plantations of Guadeloupe and Martinique Between the 15th and the 19th Century Text © dach&amp;zephir Since their origins, Guadeloupe and Martinique have been home to rich and varied flora and heterogeneous landscapes which benefit from the islands' diverse climate. Throughout history, so-called native species were joined by other varieties which arrived thanks to various carriers from neighbouring tropical zones. The migrations of birds, the ocean currents and the circulation of the karayib - the Amerindian peoples native of the Caribbean region - were some of the first forms of such vectors, which one could qualify as fortuitous and natural. But the 15th century inaugurated new modes of circulation and distribution, radically transforming this paradigm. The discovery of Guadeloupe (1493) and Martinique (1502) by Italian navigator Christopher Columbus was the beginning of a different relationship with life, space and flora. The French colonised the islands in 1635, and the karayib - then known as a people of warriors - were exterminated by means of epidemics, alcohol and guns. Shortly after, the first deported Africans - the initial slaves of the French colonies - landed to serve a new economy based on the exploitation of the soil. <img width="1721" height="1503" width_o="1721" height_o="1503" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3c988c0b949acdd6284bf36b85df2072bc7d276b3be05c81d6587fb3623f407/Plant-Fever-exhibition_dach-zephir_Green-shields_Caraibes-et-europeens-d-apres-le-P.-du-Tertre_1929.jpg" data-mid="75424182" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f3c988c0b949acdd6284bf36b85df2072bc7d276b3be05c81d6587fb3623f407/Plant-Fever-exhibition_dach-zephir_Green-shields_Caraibes-et-europeens-d-apres-le-P.-du-Tertre_1929.jpg" /> Caraïbes and Europeans according to P. du Tertre (1929), image courtesy Manioc <img width="2000" height="1557" width_o="2000" height_o="1557" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8f6cafb43370db5f5f72ecc447e4d9f5f8d781697b6994e4037f7b20d0400c40/Plant-Fever-exhibition_dach-zephir_Green-shields_Esclaves-se-rendant-au-travail_Benoit--PJ.-Lauters--Paul_1839.jpg" data-mid="75424187" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8f6cafb43370db5f5f72ecc447e4d9f5f8d781697b6994e4037f7b20d0400c40/Plant-Fever-exhibition_dach-zephir_Green-shields_Esclaves-se-rendant-au-travail_Benoit--PJ.-Lauters--Paul_1839.jpg" /> Slaves going to work, by PJ. Benoit &amp; Paul Lauters (1839), image courtesy Manioc Profiting from almost constant sunshine, the lands favoured the cultivation of sugar cane. Introduced in Guadeloupe and Martinique in the 17th century and inseparable from slavery, sugar cane became the symbol of the Plantation. It was, therefore, thanks to the Antilles that France acquired the monopoly of sugar production - which was known then as white gold - in the "West", experiencing great economic prosperity. Confronted with growing demand, its need for labourers became pressing. Thus began a frantic trade of black men who were to be governed according to the Code Noir (1685), a text - inspired by the slavery practices of the Spaniards in the Americas - consisting of sixty articles that regulated the life, death and purchase of slaves. When slavery started to rage, Guadeloupe and Martinique expressed a specific relationship with nature which was inherited from the first peoples. Although scattered, some of the traces of that bond had resisted the violence of the first colonisers and allowed the captives - that were brought in from Africa and the Americas - to build different relations with the environment and plants. Fortuitous or imposed, these encounters naturally generated "reactions" that we could associate to the concept of creolisation advocated and popularised by the Martinican philosopher Édouard Glissant. According to Glissant, the notion of creolisation defines an "original anthropological construction, linked to the establishment of a complex society based on a precise historical framework and generates locally a new, original reality, without any precedent of which it would be a pure reduplication or extension. This construction is, therefore, connected to a place (the Plantation) and an economic model based on human trade and slavery." By direct consequence, this new reality produced another form of creolisation - a precise process of "everyday invention" that saw the active participation of certain plants and seeds. The result was an (original) set of traditions that embodied a specific way of life inspired by the local setting (the Plantation) and the outside world (Africa and America). Plants have thus played a significant role in the resilience of enslaved communities. Within the restrictive context of the colonial period, their potential - which was at the same time technical, scenic, symbolic and mystical - enabled oppressed people to build parallel worlds. Acting as authentic green shields, they allowed these communities to reinvent rituals and objects, helping them endure atrocity and regain some dignity.This piece is the first chapter of a 2-part article written by French duo dach&amp;zephir about Éloj Kréyol*, their ongoing research around the notion of creolisation and the post-colonial landscape of the Antilles islands.&nbsp;Read the second part here*&nbsp;Published in 2019, the book Éloj Kréyol: Meanderings in the Field of Decolonial Design (Sophie Krier et al, Field Essays, Onomatopee 55.3, 2019) offers an insight into their investigation <img width="2152" height="3150" width_o="2152" height_o="3150" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9f97e302be1cdd2680066526a4ebef8d57455b18d7d9c33ef917377e6eea49e/Plant-Fever-exhibition_dach-zephir_Green-shields.jpg" data-mid="75424232" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b9f97e302be1cdd2680066526a4ebef8d57455b18d7d9c33ef917377e6eea49e/Plant-Fever-exhibition_dach-zephir_Green-shields.jpg" />Green shields, digital collage © dach&amp;zephir Bibliography Édouard Glissant, Traité du Tout-Monde (Poétique IV), Gallimard, 1997 Alain Ménil, La créolisation, un nouveau paradigme pour penser l’identité ?, Rue Descartes, 2009 Dimitri Zephir, Les mailles fertiles d’un créole, Thesis at ENSAD Paris, 2014 About the authors Graduates of the National School of Decorative Arts of Paris, Dimitri Zephir and Florian Dach founded dach&amp;zephir in 2016. Mixing fervour and poetry, their projects echo the thinking of Martinican poet Édouard Glissant and celebrate the urgent and necessary diversity of the world.&nbsp;dachzephir.com / @dach.zephir / @eloj.kreyol https://plantfever.com/Covid-19-and-the-Flower-Industry-s-Limits-with-M-Rusak Thu, 14 May 2020 17:40:50 +0000 Plant Fever https://plantfever.com/Covid-19-and-the-Flower-Industry-s-Limits-with-M-Rusak ︎ Journal May 16th, 2020 What Does the Pandemic Reveal About the Global Flower Industry? A Conversation with Marcin Rusak Photos © Marcin Rusak Newspapers such as The Guardian and The New York Times recently reported that the Coronavirus has put the international floriculture industry - from grower to buyer - in crisis. Since the beginning of April, the internet is full of photos and videos that show masses of unsold houseplants and cut flowers being thrown away. To fight their financial loss and encourage customers to continue buying, suppliers such as Royal FloraHolland and the Dutch Flower Group launched several web campaigns with titles like Let Hope Bloom and #BuyFlowersNotToiletPaper. Looking at these events, we started wondering how fragile the globalised flower market is and whether alternatives exist. Eager to explore further this issue, we reached out to Polish designer Marcin Rusak whose work is literally embedded with flowers. Son and grandson of flower growers, Rusak has been questioning our relationship with the floral industry ever since his graduation project Flowering Transition (2014). <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abc81b016ae2be533258d144f3f8141f3ffef67c4253d689f47094c77e31ff2d/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Most-of-the-auctions-area-is-devoted-to-storage-and-segregation-of-flowers.jpg" data-mid="71032810" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abc81b016ae2be533258d144f3f8141f3ffef67c4253d689f47094c77e31ff2d/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Most-of-the-auctions-area-is-devoted-to-storage-and-segregation-of-flowers.jpg" /> Plant Fever (P.F.) // What was your reaction when watching images of plants and flowers being thrown away? Marcin Rusak (M.R.) // It was painful to watch them being destroyed in times when we need them the most. There is something really odd about burning flowers. They have been produced for our pleasure and emotional needs, but they are being sacrificed for the sake of sustaining businesses and the lack of other solutions. I am still trying to understand the reasons and financial decisions behind such behaviours. Also, as a studio, we are curious to see how this situation will affect the suppliers and which environmental implications it will have. One thing is sure: We should definitely think of alternatives for the floral chain. My “dream garden” consists only of forgotten weeds and local plants. I have the feeling that, when you realise that it belongs to a determined environment, nature expresses a certain sense of purity. By applying this notion to the way we purchase flowers, we might have a chance of reducing future waste and difficulties. What we saw in the past weeks — the destruction of flowers and plants —, for instance, could happen on a much smaller scale if we relied on networks of local growers. Furthermore, it would be easier for communities to relate to growers that are linked to their context and support them. <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/14c36d992d98bc48f4d647288f33e074d64b09b5587f43507fd3690ef2febce8/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Extremely-rich-and-saturated-colours-of-flowers-are-one-of-few-demands-on-the-industry-list.JPG" data-mid="71032808" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/14c36d992d98bc48f4d647288f33e074d64b09b5587f43507fd3690ef2febce8/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Extremely-rich-and-saturated-colours-of-flowers-are-one-of-few-demands-on-the-industry-list.JPG" /> <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7a192f0a696a14a5ab3cf118435a91ac2e3e86fbe6b7062ef394288a5d6a552/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Biggest-flower-auction-in-Netherlands--Flora-Holland--Aalsmeer.jpg" data-mid="71032807" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a7a192f0a696a14a5ab3cf118435a91ac2e3e86fbe6b7062ef394288a5d6a552/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Biggest-flower-auction-in-Netherlands--Flora-Holland--Aalsmeer.jpg" /> P.F. // Do you think that, in the long run, we can keep having a consumerist relationship with plants and flowers?M.R. // While examining this industry, we noticed a clear lack of evolution in the way flowers are being grown, transported globally and sold. Customers have very little to say about what species are distributed and where they come from. Changing the system thus requires a thorough transformation in our consumption habits. We need to start asking ourselves if purchasing a flower that usually would not exist in our geographical location — and indeed comes with an excessive production and transportation footprint — is something we want to contribute to consciously. Our relationship with nature is unbalanced and, in the case of flowers, our purchasing habits are often dictated by a consumption-oriented calendar that pivots around marketing slogans. Imagining a scenario in which the plants we buy were grown locally and were selected among species that thrive naturally within the climate we live in could unveil the underrated potential of many forgotten species. At the same time, this would encourage garden centres to sell what is needed and not what marketers have predicted/imposed. Our consumption habits have distanced us so much from this path that we ended up with the current crisis. We need to realise that the way plants and flowers are produced and perceived has become unnatural. <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a6ae2726a99327167fc79fa0c422bb8e838c4ddfcdff835effebb1bdab4532df/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Testing-flowers-vase-life.jpg" data-mid="71032812" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a6ae2726a99327167fc79fa0c422bb8e838c4ddfcdff835effebb1bdab4532df/Plant-Fever-exhibition_Marcin-Rusak-Studio_Testing-flowers-vase-life.jpg" /> P.F. // With your team, you have been exploring the notion of waste and ephemerality within the floral industry for a while now [somehow highlighting that waste is inherent to the floriculture sector independently from the Covid-19 situation]. As designers, do you see the current situation as an opportunity to rethink projects and collaborations?M.R. // Absolutely. The problem is that the sector does not seem willing to recognise the problem. We have been trying to reach out to different organisations to collaborate with them by sourcing their waste, but unfortunately, we had no success. Some of the local flower markets, which we approached before the pandemic, claimed they do not produce any waste. As a studio, we are absolutely interested in how this industry will change from now on and are already thinking about a few projects that would provide a broader audience with alternative scenarios. [update 13.11.2020]Artist and designer Coltrane McDowell is investigating the potential of rose oil for the Kenyan horticulture industry. Read his article About Marcin Rusak Polish artist and multidisciplinary designer Marcin Rusak is interested in ideas of value, ephemerality and aesthetics. His work specialises in storytelling, process and material investigation and incorporates research, objects, installations and visual creations. marcinrusak.com / @marcinrusak