TERRARIA ORNAMENTIA
Speculative project
Collaborator/consultant
GROUP MEMBERS LISTED BELOW
Year
2024
With ongoing climate change, we might not have a chance to grow ornamental plants in future
Plants play an essential role in fulfilling humans' aesthetic appeal and bringing about pleasure for a long time. Traces of planting for enjoyment can be found in the literature of the Gilgamesh Epic as early as 2700 BCE. Humans today have been isolated from natural ecosystems and rely on ornamentals trying to retain a sense of connectedness with the world. Our relationship to ornamentals, in a sense, is ‘visible symbiosis’, a crucial association in which we see and feel the connection with other forms of life that co-inhabit the planet.
In 2150, as the climate crisis tuels population-tood-pessimism and soll loss, can we still use soll for cultivating ornamental plants?
Decellularization refers to the process of removing cellular material completely from animal or plant tissues; this practice is often used in the field of tissue engineering for generating potential biocompatible structures for organ and tissue substitutes. By taking out genetic material and intracellular proteins, an acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) which maintains its original 3D structure and mechanical properties is produced.
Envision the decellularized flowers of the future: ornamentals, even terrariums, populated with pigmented bacteria.
Through a process of decellularisation, the structures of preexisting decorative plants are reborn after we inoculate them with pink pigment producing bacteria (Serratia Marcescens). The decellularised petals become the scaffolds of new ’life‘; those which will adorn the living spaces of the tuture.
Special Thanks
Group Members | Joanna Cheng, Yuhui Guo, Kirry Li, Harry Mann, Weronika Turowska
Tutors | Nancy Diniz, Alice Taylor, Jon Flint, Lucrezia Alessandroni
Technical Support | Paula Corsini, Barbara Paes
