Reflection: “Planted” 2011
By Alexis Di Meglio 10843415
Sustainable messages and “green based projects” are hardly an “untouched” area in design, yet our group was able to explore the other side of green and give life to the topic. Planted was not about coxing people into saving the planet rather, in a fun and unusual way, making people aware that plants and gardening can be fun. In turn the presence of green has an overwhelming positive presence in an environment that is rid of it, subliminally having a positive effect on the city by helping people introduce green into their lives and the world, one plant at a time, which is what the group saw Foley Street to be lacking. The group not only provided the platform for people to understand the lighter side of green through the surreal nature of the grass heads and the turf couch but we set them a challenge for the message to extend beyond the night to make life a little greener by growing. This was achieved through the seed bombs and grass heads which saw overwhelming popularity on the night.
The artwork in composition had a surreal like nature through the use of surprise the group tried to achieve. We made the audience prepared to expect the unexpected. This was embodied through the surprise plants in the chest of draws, the unusual objects that the plants were planted in, the natural cushioning of the grass on the furniture and the way the grass almost naturally enveloped the space, surrounding it and the almost cartoon like nature of the grass heads that heightened the sense of the living within the space and almost appeared to be somewhat the natural inhabitants of the area. With the surreal like nature of the art work came, unexpectedly, the undertone of nostalgia, through the lounge room like set up that is common in any home and seeing grandma’s old tea set and teapot in the distance with an unexpected twist, all of the objects far and in between, the dewiness of the grass from the rain that was the perfect picture of a stormy winter’s night and the childhood memories of filling grass heads at school that came to the for in their presence adding a somewhat jovial sense to the work. It is through this sense of nostalgia that the artwork become more relatable to the audience and the concept became more realistic. However this nostalgia executed in a surreal like manner is what made the work truly special and the message was able to be delivered successfully through the relatable links that people made to the objects within the space and the new surreal and green ways that the group presented to view and think about these objects in this space. These subjective links, which the audience was able to form the work, made it far more relatable and successful as a result.
The rain, although dampening the success of the event slightly, surprisingly added another indirect layer of meaning to the work. It almost made it seem like a live in instillation where the plants were being nourished by the rain and growing amongst the audience. This heightened the impact of the work as, although the audience could not sit on the ottomans for a long period of time, they could become part of a live audience that experienced life growing in front of their eyes.
Visually the work was extremely successful, it brought a sense of life to the street not only through the objects contained within it but also through the vibrancy of its colour. The vibrant green in the dull street certainly, if not through the meaning behind the work, visually gave the audience cues as to how the space was lacking in it and how beautiful the space looked with it.
The work embodied that of the situationlists through the aspect of play, present in the “make your own grass heads”. This was also emphasized by the playful notion of the surprise plants in unexpected places and inside unexpected objects, which heightened the notion of “play” and asked the audience to explore and enjoy what was on offer through the playful manner of the work. The interactive nature of the work with the user having to not only view the work but discover, explore and note all of the subtle plays on nature and object design echoed the principles of interaction with the work present in relational aesthetics and the street itself acted as somewhat of a creative city for one night only, a hub of art and creative people, life, music and fun. Planted was a true interpretation of the concepts presented through ought the project in it’s entirety.
Through the composition of the work and it’s meaning the group was successful in understanding and executing the goals of the subject. The task was to make the city a more livable place and effectively make the audience aware of some of the issues surrounding the city that add to or detract from its ability to be livable. The event as a whole achieved this in Foley Street, for one night the group brought what would usually be a barren and empty street to life. Planted literally made the audience aware of how to make the city more livable by injecting life into the street through plant life. We pointed the audience to a different side of a popular issue of sustainability and “the green” and how they could integrate that in into their lives and homes in a practical manner. This practicality enforced the message further to show the audience that this is achievable beyond the night and beyond the Foley Street exhibition, giving them the foundations and ideas for a platform for change rather than statically enforcing a message upon them in a work that had no interaction.
The element of fun through reflection was brought across through the experience of the work in the ability of the viewer to sit and enjoy and almost provide a reflective space in the exhibition to soak up the atmosphere and consider what was happening around them. This allowed the audience time to reflect and imagine ways that the message could be taken further. As a result the project had a direct influence on the audience to hopefully consider how they could make these changes in life for the future. The group was successful in providing them with examples of how this could be achieved and further enforced the message through the gifts of grass heads and seed bombs for the message to continue beyond the night. A challenge was set by the group “tonight we integrate nature into Foley Street, tomorrow we challenge you to integrate plants into your life and your city.” By introducing this thought to the audience a platform was created for change if not to act on it to at least contemplate how through plant life they can make the city around them more livable in the future. Hopefully the event as a surprise pop up gallery will encourage this sort of behavior to extend beyond the night from it’s visual success. If the audience didn’t understand or absorb the message from the group at least they can reflect on an evening of fun which Planted provided them, to show them that life, like the situationalists and relational aesthetic movement, can be fun and spontaneous and spark change to create a truly creative and in turn more livable city. By creating a miniature creative city in future people may be able to realize the worth of creativity in lifeless environments and how some small attention to detail and little events like this can bring people from all walks of life together to enjoy living in the city and inform them on making change for the better.
