plants
plant fragments were collected during the summers of 2023 and 2022, including but not limited to flowers, stems, sporophytes and gametophytes of mosses, roots and leaves. the choice of what to gather was based on intuition and eyes. the fragments were dried upside down and transported carefully, in order to preserve their three-dimensionality. this is in contrast to herbarium collections, where the specimens are pressed flat.
a white, circular box was constructed for each fragment. this was in essence a gesture of care. a wish for not only the delicate fragments to be safe, but also for the entire biodiversity of the plant kingdom to be preserved for billions of years to come. the process was long and time-consuming.
in the gallery, the boxes were presented on the wall with a 10x handloupe available for close observation. in the installation was a bookshelf with books about plants borrowed from libraries. the entire piece was designed to inspire curiosity and questioning in all viewers.
how the project idea came to be?
while doing a residency at Vänö i went for an evening walk in nature. i collected small pieces that sung to me. not only plants but also bones, lichen and shells. paper is my basic material and i always have some at hand. so to keep the fragments safe i made little origami boxes for each of them. my intention was to give the fragments a place without time or decay. objects in nature are always disappearing. the sunshine, wind, footsteps of creatures, water and fungi are always turning everything into dust.
at my university, we are fortunate in that we can take courses from other universities. by attending a botany course i was introduced to over 600 finnish plants with the necessity to memorise their scientific names. what gathered my attention was the images of the specimens. i realised that when there was an image of a dried plant fragment, that fragment was still in existence in Finland somewhere. some of the close-ups were so beautiful.
source – Pinkka
studio mokii, plants, interactive installation, Plant fragments: handmade paper: books from libraries: furniture: 10x hand loupe: calling cards with seeds inside, finland, 2023