{"id":37940,"date":"2016-09-21T13:01:51","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T11:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=37940"},"modified":"2016-09-21T13:01:51","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T11:01:51","slug":"plants-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/plants-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Warum sind K\u00fcnstler so besessen von Pflanzen?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-38025 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/BB9_Timur_Si_Qin_03-copy.jpeg\" alt=\"Timur Si-Qin\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" \/> Installation view of &#8220;A Reflected Landscape,&#8221; 2016 at BB9; courtesy Timur Si-Qin; Soci\u00e9t\u00e9, Berlin; Studio Ramos; photo: Timo Ohler<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">One of the recurring thoughts we had at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/?s=bb9&amp;submit=Search\"> 9th Berlin Biennale<\/a> is that the representation of plants in art is alive and well. Here we look at the history of plants in art and the provocative symbolism in shrubbery<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\">Plants are people, too<\/h3>\n<p>Plants and humans, they&#8217;re polar opposites, right? Think\u00a0again. According to a 2015 study by Monica Gagliano at the University of Western\u00a0Australia, not only do flowers, trees, fruits and vegetables talk to one another,\u00a0they also have memories. And while science may have only recently come around\u00a0to the idea that plants are sentient beings, in art they\u2019ve always been something\u00a0more than passive objects, having the ability to both corrupt and empower.<br \/>\nIn the origins of Western thought, nature is by turns the embodiment of good\u00a0as well as the epitome evil. In Ovid\u2019s telling of humanity\u2019s golden age, the Earth\u00a0was an abundant source of nourishment and pleasure, while in Christianity, a\u00a0snake that tempts Adam into eating a forbidden apple precipitates the fall in the\u00a0Garden of Eden. Indeed, both of these themes became major preoccupations for\u00a0Renaissance painters such as Hieronymus Bosch, who depicted the world as a\u00a0playground of virtue and sin in \u201cThe Garden of Earthly Delights\u201d.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38034\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Satterwhite_Jacolby_Reifying-Desire-2_Still_1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Jacolby Satterwhite, Reifying Desire\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/> Jacolby Satterwhite, Reifying Desire<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37956\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Fine-Foliage_4.jpg\" alt=\"Maya Rochat, Cactus Trip, 2014. Image from the artist\" width=\"1300\" height=\"830\" \/> Maya Rochat, Cactus Trip, 2014. Image from the artist<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37958\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Fine-Foliage_6.jpg\" alt=\"Pascual Sisto, Installation View: En Plain Air, 2015. Image from Brand New Gallery\" width=\"1300\" height=\"869\" \/> Pascual Sisto, Installation View: En Plain Air, 2015. Image from Brand New Gallery<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"p1\">Flora versus fauna<\/h3>\n<p>Botanical symbolism took a different turn during the industrial revolution. Religious\u00a0references were discarded in favour of images of plants and animals as\u00a0savage entities. In the 19th century a binary began to emerge, whereby human\u00a0culture was characterised as a civilising force, while flora and fauna were frequently\u00a0presented as wild, degenerative and untameable. One instance of this\u00a0is the post-Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau\u2019s \u201cLe lion, ayant faim, se jette\u00a0sur l\u2019antilope\u201d (\u201cThe Hungry Lion Attacking An Antelope\u201d). Here, it is not only\u00a0the ensuing violence that is meant to horrify, but also the indifference of the\u00a0surrounding forest.<br \/>\nLater in the 20th century, vegetation became an emblem of subversion, as in\u00a01974\u2019s \u201cUn Jardin d\u2019Hiver II\u201d (\u201cWinter Garden II\u201d) by Marcel Broodthaers.\u00a0True to form, Broodthaers pulled the press\u2019s leg by claiming that the foliage\u00a0installation wasn\u2019t art but merely \u2018d\u00e9cor\u2019. Similarly, in 2014, Rashid Johnson\u00a0further disrupted the opposition between nature and culture with \u201cPlateaus\u201d,\u00a0a sculpture made from shrubs, cacti, ceramics, metal and wood. Through his\u00a0juxtaposition of materials, Johnson invokes colonial ideas about supposedly civilised\u00a0and primitive societies, and his\u00a0work therefore functions as an exploration\u00a0of black identity and a scathing\u00a0assessment of empire.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37954\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Fine-Foliage_2.jpg\" alt=\"C\u00e9leste Boursier-Mougenot, R\u00eavolutions, 2015 and Rashid Johnson, Plateaus, 2014. Images from VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles\" width=\"1300\" height=\"972\" \/> C\u00e9leste Boursier-Mougenot, R\u00eavolutions, 2015 and Rashid Johnson, Plateaus, 2014. Images from VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"p1\">Turning a new leaf<\/h3>\n<p>Unter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/?s=Frieze+Projects&amp;submit=Search\">Frieze Projects<\/a> 2015, Thea Djordjadze\u00a0continued the recent tradition of\u00a0using greenery as a form of institutional\u00a0critique when she presented a collection\u00a0of Monstera deliciosa \u2013 the plants\u00a0that inspired Henri Matisse\u2019s cut-outs\u00a0\u2013 as a way of highlighting the transient\u00a0nature of art fairs. At last year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/?s=Venice+Biennale&amp;submit=Search\">Venice\u00a0Biennale<\/a>, C\u00e9leste Boursier-Mougenot\u2019s\u00a0strolling anthropomorphic pine trees\u00a0took aim at the stunted concentration\u00a0span of modern gallery goers. And in\u00a0\u201cIs it possible to be a revolutionary and\u00a0like flowers?\u201d (2012), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/?s=Camille+Henrot+&amp;submit=Search\">Camille Henrot\u00a0<\/a>transforms the books from an entire\u00a0library into flower arrangements \u2013 a\u00a0comment on contemporary culture\u2019s\u00a0anxiety about language and art as \u2018public\u2019\u00a0institutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">To be sure, the boom of plants in art\u00a0has been influenced by changing social\u00a0values, too. As Earth enters an environmentally\u00a0precarious age, we\u2019re encouraged\u00a0to go green, buy clothes made\u00a0from sustainable fabrics and eat organic\u00a0food. Consequently, artists have been\u00a0responding to these urgent calls for conscientious\u00a0consumption. For example,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/?s=Sara+Cwynar&amp;submit=Search\">Sara Cwynar<\/a>\u2019s 2014 photo installation,\u00a0\u201cEncyclopedia Grid (Banana)\u201d, acts as\u00a0reminder of the destruction of the rainforest\u00a0caused by the banana trade.<\/p>\n<p>After years of apathy, artists are embracing\u00a0ethics, and the plant has once more\u00a0become a universal signifier of everything\u00a0that\u2019s good. It\u2019s not a far cry from\u00a0Ovid\u2019s golden age, and today, what was\u00a0once a radical stance risks becoming\u00a0conformist. But as history has proven,\u00a0the power of references to plants in art\u00a0is that they defy simple categorisation\u00a0\u2013 and in doing so they help us question\u00a0the changing nature of human culture.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37955\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Fine-Foliage_3-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"Camille Henrot, Installation View: Est-il possible d\u2019\u00eatre r\u00e9volutionnaire et d\u2019aimer les fleurs? 2012. Image from VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn \" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" \/> Camille Henrot, Installation View: Est-il possible d\u2019\u00eatre r\u00e9volutionnaire et d\u2019aimer les fleurs? 2012. Image from VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37957\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Fine-Foliage_5-869x600.jpg\" alt=\"Marcel Broodthaers, Installation View: A Retrospective, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2016. Image from The Museum of Modern Art \" width=\"869\" height=\"600\" \/> Marcel Broodthaers, Installation View: A Retrospective, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2016. Image from The Museum of Modern Art<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"size--small\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-37953\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Fine-Foliage-Feature.jpg\" alt=\"Cyprien Gaillard. Nightlife, 2015 (Film still) Image from Spru?th Magers\" width=\"1264\" height=\"536\" \/> Cyprien Gaillard. Nightlife, 2015 (Film still) Image from Spr\u00fcth Magers<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<strong>Entnommen aus <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.sleek-mag.com\/products-page\/issues\/50-summer-16\/\">SLEEK 50<\/a><\/strong> \n&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Botanical symbolism and the similarities between humans and plants<\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":38028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[1350,5875,2794,5876,5877,5878,5879,5880,5881,5882,5883,5884,4125,467,746,3463],"class_list":["post-37940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-camille-henrot","tag-celeste-boursier-mougenot","tag-cyprien-gaillard","tag-foliage","tag-henri-matisse","tag-henri-rousseau","tag-humans","tag-marcel-broodthaers","tag-maya-rochat","tag-monica-gagliano","tag-ovid","tag-pascual-sisto","tag-plants","tag-rashid-johnson","tag-sara-cwynar","tag-thea-djordjadze"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Are Artists So Obsessed with Plants<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We trace the history of botanical symbolism and the similarities between humans and plants\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/plants-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Are Artists So Obsessed with Plants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We trace the history of botanical symbolism and the similarities between humans and plants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/plants-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sleek Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sleekmag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-21T11:01:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Will Furtado\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4\u00a0Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sleek Magazine\",\"description\":\"Sleek is Germany\u2019s leading independent media house\/brand for creativity and innovation located in Berlin the creative capital of the world. 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