petal of Portulak (Portucala Carnaval) in diaframe
X shows seemingly innocent and aesthetic images of flowers that have been subject to cultural appropriation, colonialism, climate change, biodiversity, sustainable landscape management and the determination and legislation for indigenous or exotic species for centuries.
Petals of different flowers are put into slide frames and projected at varied sizes. The deciduous leaves of rose, carnation, tulip, marigold and portulak are enlarged exposed and screened, in both the sense of inspection and cinema.
Every leaf projection creates an image on the wall, a comprehensive story at once hidden and revealed.
For ages flowers have been used as carriers of messages for cultures, religions and nations. These symbols have been developed, interpreted, taken over or adapted and forgotten continuously.
These hidden stories are illustrated in the accompanying publication in which text fragments from findings are combined with images from the flower industry, art history and pop culture.
X, petals in diaframes, diaprojectors, variable dimensions, 2016