A series of five C-type prints and five accompanying texts (framed)
Varying dimensions
Edition of 3
'Plant Fiction' is an exploration into the role of nature in Western civilization, where over time, men have succeeded to define culture - especially the city - as a social concept intrinsically opposite to nature, a concept in which our drive for technological development and cultural refinement is fueled by the quest to control and understand nature. In this quest, guided by reason and human progress, modern natural sciences are developed to achieve a technological mastery over natural processes and an endless stream of new products and technologies is introduced into contemporary society validated by its promise to improve the comforts of living and increase the overall level of human well-being.
Inadvertently this technological progress has led to the inverse consequence of fossil fuel consumption, population growth, urban expansion or deforestation, ultimately placing a greater strain on the continuation of future resources due to pollution, resource depletion and the loss of biodiversity.
The title, ‘Plant Fiction’ layers facts, fiction, myth, history, radical thinking and researches our present-day relationship with nature and culture, green and the city. Five scenarios, each formed around a fictitious plant species are placed on location in a London of the near-future. Each kind is utilized to improve a familiar man-made condition.
In these near-future scenarios Troika imagined plants that would self-decompose in gain of biofuels, plants that excrete unique pigments to be implemented in security devices, creepers that can sense air-borne viruses and plants that reclaim gold from electronic circuits found in landfills, thus evoking prospective scenarios while uncovering our often short-sighted and utilitarian view on nature and mankind's relationship to it.
'Plant Fiction' joined 'Climate Stories' at the Science Museum, London, an exhibition including artworks from established and emerging artists including 'Toaster Project', by Thomas Thwaites, 'Longplayer', by Jem Finer Yao Lu's 'New Landscapes', and Simon Faithfull's '30 km'.
Exhibition history:
'En Vie - Alive'
Curated by Carole Collet'
Espace Foundation EDF
Paris, France
26 Apr - 1 Sep, 2013
'Climate Stories'
Curated by Hannah Redler
Science Museum, The Mathematics Gallery
London, UK
Jun, 2012 - Jun, 2014
'Curious Minds'
Curated by Alex Ward
The israel Museum
Jerusalem, Israel
16 Dec, 2011 - 23 Apr, 2012
'The Space between Now and Then'
Curated by Natalie Kovacs and Cristobal Riestra
Galeria OMR
Mexico City, Mexico
24 Nov, 2011 - 24 Feb, 2012
'The Solutions'
Curated by Ou Ning
China Biennial
International Design Exhibition
Music Park, East Chengdu.
29 Sep - 30 Oct, 2011
'Hyperlinks - Architecture and Design'
Group exhibition curated by Zoe Ryan
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, USA
11 Dec, 2010–20 Jul, 2011
Plant Fiction was purchased for the permanent collection of The Art Institute of Chicago and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.