Diana Scherer's Roots

What goes on, unseen, beneath the soil? A question that fascinates photographer Diana Scherer, whose work plays with constrained root formations. Growing plants in a variety of containers she exposes the plant's mechanisms for exploring every nook and cranny, searching for water and nutrients. Sometimes weaving fantastic, intricate patterns, sometimes forcing themselves into solid forms mirroring their constrictive containers, and sometimes creating unexpectedly chaotic forms, her work reminds you to consider the structures that are hidden yet vital.

http://dianascherer.nl/

Plant Culture exhibition in Leicester

an interesting looking exhibition coming to Leicester later in the summer: 

• "Saturday 23 July – Sunday 25 September, FREE
• FREE Public preview: Friday 22 July, 5.30pm - 8pm
• Bringing together different artistic representations of plant life in modern and contemporary art, Plant Culture will explore how artists have used plants as a subject matter, material or aesthetic. The exhibition constitutes an investigation into the relationship between humans and the natural world."
• at the Attenborough Arts Centre

• Featuring the work of Gilbert & George, Marc Quinn, Simon Starling, and a bunch of other good artists, it promises to be worth a look.

Spring!

"Now the warm sun of spring melts the frost all around..."
(From 'the table that ran away to the woods' by Stefan Themerson)


 At least that was the story last week; this week I'm feezing my bits and bobs off and it's snowing again(!)
 Still, there are things happening in the garden: here are some of the photos I've been taking over the last fortnight:

Top row l-r:
Snakes Head Fritillary, Tulip 'Doberman'(?), Senecio Rowleyanus (on my windowsill)
Second row l-r:
Victoria plum blossom, Viburnum, Climbing rose
Bottom row l-r:
Euphorbia Characias, Forsythia, Maple (maybe Acer Pseudoplatanus?)

Tate Modern is growing something....

The Tate Modern art gallery has an interesting new installation in it's huge turbine hall. With a sprinkle of guerrilla gardening friendly mischief, and a pinch of the laws of chance and chaos which shape the gardeners' experience (maybe mine more than most!); Abraham Cruzvillegas' installation is a huge set of planters, filled with earth from London Parks. Lit and watered until the 13th April, the idea is to see what emerges. Already mushrooms and patches of green have sprouted. From random seeds lying dormant in the soil, as well as seeds thrown by visitors, the natural processes of growth and decay will make the artwork literally come alive.

'Empty Lot' by Abraham Cruzvillegas

The idea of holding up the chance seedlings, the rogues, weeds and unwanted plants as art appeals to me. The ragged assortment of greenery that is currently emerging does not match most people's idea of an ideal garden, but maybe we should look again at the brave shoots that colonise the most unpromising sites, and remember that beauty and worth is in the eye of the beholder.

Warm earth music for plants... and the people who love them.

Plant Sentience and Stevie Wonder: The secret life of plants (1979)

With a experimental-funk Stevie Wonder soundtrack, this documentary is based on the 1973 book of the same name. 'The Secret life of Plants' explores way-out concepts and entertaining pseudo-science such as plant sentience (plants can feel, man!) orgone accumulation (plants can focus energy, man!) and plant emotions. Yes, plant emotions. Great timelapse photography and the film's interesting alternative take on our green leafy friends make this worth a watch.





Was Roald Dahl onto something when he wrote 'The Sound Machine'?

His 1949 tale of a man who invents a machine that can hear roses shreiking as they're cut and trees groaning as they're felled?

Royal Academy of the Arts: Urban Gardening

An interesting looking event happening on the 27th Feb:

'CONTEMPORARY URBAN GARDENING - Provocations in art'

Artist Wendy Shilliam's rooftop veg plot

From the RA website:

Join us for a panel event exploring the current state and future potential of contemporary urban gardening.

Chaired by journalist and horticulturist Alys Fowler, this event will explore the subversive and exciting work of guerrilla gardener and author Richard Reynolds, forager John Rensten and artist Wendy Shillam.
Panellists include:

• Gardener Wendy Shillam, currently undertaking a project in cultivating a 5m x 6m rooftop garden on top of her Central London home, containing thriving organic fruits and vegetables.
• Forager and founder of Forage London, John Rensten, studies wild food and leads city foraging walks in urban green spaces.
• Guerrilla gardener Richard Reynolds, whose record of illicit cultivation began in 2004. His website is now a hub for those who cultivate land as guerrilla gardeners.