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 Various  Amy Franceschini w/ botanist Stefan Ericsson  Variable |
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  Nearest Nature was a 3 day workshop and exhibition within the Urban Concerns project at the Bildmuseet in Umeå, Sweden. Day 1: Botanic Folksonomy With botanist/curator of herbarium at the Umeå University we studied a plot of local flora. The plot was sectioned off and each group identified the diversity of plant life within their section. A log of all flora was kept and each participant chose one plant to name, classify and describe using their own invented taxonomy. Later Stefan helped participants identify the plants according to Linnaean taxonomy learning the latin, dialect and english name for each plant. Day 2: On becoming flora Participants developed a human character based on the plants characteristics. As a group we went for a walk in the city to find these characters that had been described. If we could not find them, we went to the thrift store and dressed up and acted like the character. Day 3: Building a city Based on the community of plants we studied on Day 1 we designed a small scale model of a city with recycled materials. While working with Stefan we learned about the various interpersonal relationships between the plants in our study plot and applied those to how a city might function in terms of distribution of energy, placement and cycles. Day 4: Embroidered Botanic Folksonomy During a closing event for Urban Concerns, in a public park, we embroidered local plants into people's clothing. | |
