'Post-apocalyptic Therapeutic'
Heide Gallery, Melbourne
2019
Designed landscapes are only required to commercially be viable for 10‐15 years. This means that all landscapes built now will need to be remade between 2030‐2035, coincidently the same date range as the proposed 2 degree increase in temperate by the Climate Council. A large body of research has indicted that this increase in temperature will have large ramifications on our ecologies especially plant species. The issue is not that the plants will adapt and change, as species has been evolving for ever, but rather the modifications will no longer be suitable for human consumption. Evidence has been collected that temperature increases will push crop into unnatural yield cycles disturbing pollination patterns, and redistributing energy away from the aesthetic qualities such as smells and oil production. To counter balance this agricultural and pharmaceutical scientists around the world have been genetically modifying plants so they remain economically viable for the human species.
How far are we willing to modify nature to suit our human needs? At which point will the human need overweigh the aesthetic quality of a plant? Is the aesthetics of a plant‐based product important to its therapeutic quality?
“Post‐apocalyptic therapeutic’ is a social engaged public artwork and a live documentation of plants in our current geological era. The participants will be asked to press flowers perceived as therapeutic to the human condition and document their pre‐apocalyptic condition. In this case, the apocalypse is defined by the destruction of all things humans currently rely on, ie the plants for sustenance and medicine. Hopefully this will begin a conversation about the qualities we see as therapeutic in plants and which modifications we are will to accept for the sake of production.
How far are we willing to modify nature to suit our human needs? At which point will the human need overweigh the aesthetic quality of a plant? Is the aesthetics of a plant‐based product important to its therapeutic quality? “Post‐apocalyptic therapeutic’ is a social engaged public artwork and a live documentation of plants in our current geological era. The participants will be asked to press flowers perceived as therapeutic to the human condition and document their pre‐apocalyptic condition. In this case, the apocalypse is defined by the destruction of all things humans currently rely on, ie the plants for sustenance and medicine. Hopefully this will begin a conversation about the qualities we see as therapeutic in plants and which modifications we are will to accept for the sake of production.