Ideas for Semester II
There has been this idea has interested me since reading the essay “Of Roots and Men: Interwoven Narratives in the Age of Hybrid Realities” by Kopp-Oberstebrink and Wiess. This is an essay contained within Diana Scherers’ book, Interwoven, which I did a literature review on. Kopp-Oberstebrink and Wiess discuss the interplay between collaborating with nature and the opposing action of mastery over nature of Scherer’s root system works. Scherer cares for these root systems she initiates the creation of and then destroys them. This action has angered people in her exhibition spaces who witness the destruction and feel empathy for the plants.
This research coupled with additional research undertaken which discusses responses of plants such as signalling danger with chemical release, or emitting sounds which are inaudible to us, responses to threats as indicated in Cleve Backsters’ polygraph tests on plants, etc., I started thinking of what I was doing in harvesting the root systems as being really quite savage. This came through in the April seminar with my installation which I called “Eco-friendly Savagery” - while what I am doing embraces ideas of eco-friendly materials and bringing plants into existence, I am still doing this to kill them, for my end game in wanting their root systems. I became quite mindful of what I was doing in killing these plants, this also quite interested me as I have grown vegetables for my family on a lifestyle block and harvesting the plants never worried me. Sending the cattle to the butcher did.
What if I created an installation for the graduate exhibition that brought together some ideas around collaboration with nature, control, and our killing of plants (while different to animals still living)? What if I made living green carcasses that are hanging as meat does in a butchery, ready for processing? Carcasses that I can actually skin and harvest root systems from. There is an absurdity to relating plants to animals - but horror films are somewhat funny in their ridiculous and abject content.
Below are some images from my visual diary which are just thinking through ideas, imaginings and processes around this idea:
