Possibly the most whimsical and yet political intervention was spearheaded by a group of artists who ran an event called “The Wayward Plant Registry” as part of Create (www.createlondon.org). The artists collected plants that had been abandoned by their owners for such common reasons as “moving” and uncommon reasons such as a couple splitting up their possessions – including each plant. Many of these wayward plants were located on sites like Gumtree or Craig’s List.
Each plant was posted in the gallery along with wan pictures of the drooping plant, a name for the outcast, and the history of the plant pre-rescue. Each audience member interested in adopting a plant was required to fill in an application where he or she could draw or write the reason for adoption and the conditions of the soon-to-be-adoptee’s home.
Richard Buckminster Fuller’s Geodesic Domes
The piece that showcases the most beautiful and edifying aspects of nature is by inventor and thinker Richard Buckmister Fuller. Buckminster Fuller’s honeycomb-shaped structures, called geodesic domes, are constructions that can sustain their own weight at any size, and are the basis for the Eden Project’s domes.
The Barbican Art Gallery features one such structure along with a video entitled Modelling Universe, shot in 1976. The video shows Buckminster Fuller speaking about the way his invention came about. His passion is evident, potent, and despite the out-dated footage, almost intoxicating. The video shows the multifarious shapes in nature and Buckminster Fuller’s determination to imitate them mathematically.
Fallen Forest by Henrik Hakansson
Henrik Hakansson’s piece Fallen Forest shows a forest on its side. Fallen Forest was made in 2006 by the Swedish artist. The artist highlights the commodification of the forest with lighting, and makes the forest appear to be dug-up. However, the gesture feels simplified and too conceptual. It doesn’t introduce ambiguity, nor does it give a fresh intellectual idea. Unfortunately, like many of the pieces in Radical Nature, Fallen Forest is not moving but patronizing.
1960s and '70s Environmental Art and Radical Nature
Unfortunately many other pieces are still less innovative. In fact several seem to be knock-offs of more radical 1970s environmental art. While Radical Nature strives to bridge art and architecture, and create an interdisciplinary platform, it ultimately falls short of its goal. Several pieces are intellectual intriguing and thoroughly researched, but too many pieces seem to overly intellectual and lack artistic vision, while others seem wholly architectural and therefore somewhat out of place in the atmosphere established by the curators.
It is without a doubt an important task for galleries to stretch beyond the usual arts remit and for artists to extend themselves into seemingly disparate disciplines. Radical Nature, however, seems to cater to too many tastes, never entirely finding a truly radical voice, nor showcasing the wonders of nature.
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