{"id":52361,"date":"2016-02-25T16:00:11","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T21:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=52361"},"modified":"2021-11-18T10:35:13","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T15:35:13","slug":"of-art-and-botany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2016\/02\/adult-education\/of-art-and-botany\/","title":{"rendered":"Flowers in the Gallery: A Melding of Art, Botany, and Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bird\u2019s-eye<\/a>
Agreement Establishing the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. Al-Bayan Palace, Kuwait City, Kuwait, May 30, 2006, Press III, Paperwork and the Will of Capital, 2015. Pigmented concrete press, dried plant specimens, archival inkjet prints, text on herbarium paper, and steel brace, 114.1 x 55.9 x 76.2 cm \u00a9 Taryn Simon. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photography by Stuart Burford Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chelsea\u2019s powerhouse Gagosian Gallery<\/a> is not the most likely place you\u2019d find pressed herbarium specimens.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s exactly what you\u2019ll see there as part of the gallery\u2019s current show by multidisciplinary artist Taryn Simon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In \u201cPaperwork and the Will of Capital,\u201d Simon recreates and photographs the elaborate centerpieces that sat between powerful men as they signed agreements designed to change the world. Preparing the exhibition, Simon worked with Daniel Atha<\/a>, NYBG botanist and Conservation Program Manager, and Sheranza Alli, NYBG Senior Museum Preparator and Herbarium Aid, who teach a Plant Collection and Preservation Workshop<\/a> at the Garden. <\/p>\n

When Taryn Simon reached out to NYBG in the fall of 2014 for a botanist, Atha<\/a>\u2014the son of artists\u2014jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was intrigued by the potential to explore the ways science and art interact in society, as well as interactions between scientists and artists,\u201d Atha explained.<\/p>\n

\"Bird\u2019s-eye<\/a>
Bird\u2019s-eye view, Bratislava Declaration, Bratislava, Slovakia, August 3, 1968; Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation, Colombia, Paperwork and the Will of Capital, 2015
\u00a9 Taryn Simon. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hours after Atha\u2019s interview with Simon, the studio called him to begin work identifying plants. First came the historical photographs, 36 in all: The Bratislava Declaration in Slovakia in 1968, a 2014 agreement between Cambodia and Australia regarding refugee settlement, a nuclear cooperation agreement between France and Iraq in 1975, and a 1994 accord that internationalized intellectual-property rights, to name a few.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy expertise is floristics\u2014cataloging plant diversity around the world and collecting specimens for research,\u201d Atha explained. \u201cI\u2019m accustomed to looking for diversity and differences and capturing them in two-dimensional form on a sheet of paper, accompanied by detailed records of provenance and biological attributes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with the photos was very different from how scientists identify plants.<\/p>\n

\"Bird\u2019s-eye<\/a>
Bird\u2019s-eye view, Memorandum of Understanding between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the Government of Australia Relating to the Settlement of Refugees in Cambodia. Ministry of Interior, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, September 26, 2014, Paperwork and the Will of Capital, 2015
\u00a9 Taryn Simon. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u201cA specimen\u2014an actual piece of a plant\u2014provides an ultimate veracity,\u201d Atha said. \u201cThat\u2019s why science is based on herbarium specimens and not on photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the painstaking flower identification complete, Simon\u2019s studio ordered flowers from the Netherlands, which were then shipped to New York, where Alli worked with Simon to create herbarium specimens from each cultivar. These became the floral \u201csculptures\u201d on display in Simon\u2019s exhibition. The specimens, combined with Simon\u2019s 7-foot by 6-foot photographs of her recreated floral arrangements, create a sense of permanence, an admirable quality in Atha\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Garden, we document plants and work to preserve them for long-term analysis,\u201d he explained. \u201cSome of the specimens in the herbarium are more than 250 years old. We operate under the belief that specimens will be preserved indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the exciting prospect of permanence, Atha noticed a similarity in each arrangement and flower he identified: the universality of the global floral design trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought there would be more variation from country to country, but I was surprised to see the consistency in plant material used for ceremonial bouquets around the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Gagosian<\/a>
From left to right, Taryn Simon, Sheranza Alli, and Daniel Atha at the Gagosian Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall, Atha looks forward to seeing how the public reacts to the exhibition at the Gagosian.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project was exciting because it helps people appreciate the beauty of plants, and diversity in their society,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more ways we can bring that message to the public, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are interested in learning how to collect and preserve your own plant specimens for artistic display, sign up for Atha and Alli’s upcoming Plant Collection and Preservation Workshop<\/a>, starting April 7, and build your own set of beautiful “floral sculptures” to take home.<\/p>\n

Paperwork and the Will of Capital is on exhibit now through March 26 at Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street in New York.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chelsea\u2019s powerhouse Gagosian Gallery is not the most likely place you\u2019d find pressed herbarium specimens. But that\u2019s exactly what you\u2019ll see there as part of the gallery\u2019s current show by multidisciplinary artist Taryn Simon. In \u201cPaperwork and the Will of Capital,\u201d Simon recreates and photographs the elaborate centerpieces that sat between powerful men as they… <\/p>\n

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