Ornamental garden designed by Eva-Maria Lopez
Plants are all around us. In fields, urban areas or in living rooms they tell us about changes induced by climate change and modern agriculture. They testify to the frightening loss of biodiversity going hand in hand with the agrochemical industry’s promises of a ‘better world’. In her artwork with living plants and ornaments, Eva Maria Lopez maps these changes.
For the artistic research project we resist. plant species have been included that have become herbicide resistant. Their adaptation is a naturally occurring process, following Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory, and the spontaneous change of their genetic make-up enables them to survive. As a result of monocultures and herbicide treatment, the number of such resistant plants is increasing worldwide. Most of them have important cultural symbolic values as well as medical virtues.
We resist. translates the ambiguity of so-called ‘super weeds’ such as the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) into a garden composed of motifs reminiscent of the most typical ‘jardins à la française’. Lopez aims to create an awareness of our flora, biodiversity in the anthropocene and the need for more sustainable forms of cultivation.
In this beautiful drone video (made by Erik Rietveld) Lopez can be seen at work seeding the plants in the Mandala she created out of logo elements of the world’s most important glyphosate producers.
Artist website:
www.evalopez.net
Realised with the support of RIVIUS design bureau for green outdoor spaces.
www.rivius.nl
