Ionian Center for Arts and Culture
Cephalonia, Greece
August 2018
Cephalonia, Greece
August 2018
Plantemporal surveyed the natural landscapes of Cephalonia through a tri-temporal lens examining the past, present, and speculative future flora of the island. Cephalonia, the largest of the Ionian islands, primarily produces olives and grains, however, less than a quarter of the island’s terrain is deemed arable, with most of its vegetable production occurring on rugged mountain slopes. Due to a wide range of microclimatic conditions, the island is home to a rich diversity of flora, home to many rare plants and eight endemic species, including the viola cephalonica.
Research with the Botanical Gardens of Cephalonia was conducted during the span of a four-week residency, exploring the native and endemic flora of the island. An exhibition presenting the culmination of this research included a series of imagined fossils fabricated with plaster and organic material from historically significant plants, proposing an archive of early Cephalonic flora through the incorporation of grape, olive, and fig, all referenced in one of the first botanical texts, Theophrastus’ Historia de Plantis. Abstracted arrangements exhibited alongside a series of scans wove together a survey of the botanical present, inspired by the abundance of native species in perpetual bloom across the island, thus conveying the prosperous growth conditions for species such as nerium and foeniculum vulgare.
A soundscape generated with images of non-native plants trickled through the space, immersing the viewer in a composition that ruminated upon the presence of these foreign species alongside their potential threat to the biodiversity of the island. The sonic speculative future was generated with photographs taken of various specimens translated into audio waves, sketching a portentous proposition of an island increasingly dominated by invasive plants. Exhibited alongside the sound piece was a spectogram that revealed the scope of frequencies as an illustrative tool to highlight the botanical complexities inherent to an island saturated with non-native species.
Special thanks to the Cephalonia Botanical Gardens for research aid and Grainger Gustafson for sonic assistance.
Research with the Botanical Gardens of Cephalonia was conducted during the span of a four-week residency, exploring the native and endemic flora of the island. An exhibition presenting the culmination of this research included a series of imagined fossils fabricated with plaster and organic material from historically significant plants, proposing an archive of early Cephalonic flora through the incorporation of grape, olive, and fig, all referenced in one of the first botanical texts, Theophrastus’ Historia de Plantis. Abstracted arrangements exhibited alongside a series of scans wove together a survey of the botanical present, inspired by the abundance of native species in perpetual bloom across the island, thus conveying the prosperous growth conditions for species such as nerium and foeniculum vulgare.
A soundscape generated with images of non-native plants trickled through the space, immersing the viewer in a composition that ruminated upon the presence of these foreign species alongside their potential threat to the biodiversity of the island. The sonic speculative future was generated with photographs taken of various specimens translated into audio waves, sketching a portentous proposition of an island increasingly dominated by invasive plants. Exhibited alongside the sound piece was a spectogram that revealed the scope of frequencies as an illustrative tool to highlight the botanical complexities inherent to an island saturated with non-native species.
Special thanks to the Cephalonia Botanical Gardens for research aid and Grainger Gustafson for sonic assistance.
A SONIC SPECULATIVE FUTURE WAS GENERATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN OF VARIOUS SPECIMENS TRANSLATED INTO AUDIO WAVES, SKETCHING A PORTENTOUS PROPOSITION OF AN ISLAND INCREASINGLY DOMINATED BY INVASIVE PLANTS.
