Utopian Coexistence of Plants and Plastic in the Anthropocene

Utopian Coexistence of Plants and Plastic in the Anthropocene

This week’s PhotoGenie theme is titled Artificial Nature.

Through visual stories our curators research the question “In what ways are we creating an illusion of nature?”

We are currently living in the Anthropocene: the geological period when humans are thought to have the biggest impact on the climate and environment of Earth. Plastic waste from the 1970s still washes up on our shores completely intact. The plastics that do decompose simply fall apart into smaller particles. Scientists are not sure how long it will take for this detritus to dissolve, or whether it will ever decay. Plastic Utopia is a photographic project by Henri Blommers on the impact of our consumption on the environment.

In this project, he creates a false utopia in a series of plastic objects living free amidst nature. Rich in colour, the images are sensual and draw us in with the illusion of health and vitality. Yet, all too soon, we glimpse scattered pieces in the scene, made of plastic, a material known to take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to decompose. Among the plants and flowers, we see bottle caps and bags, strings and containers. There is a plethora of plastic wildlife, mirroring the surrounding floral species diversity.

The aesthetics of this work are very carefully composed by Blommers. The series contains images with strong colors, almost like a commercial product shoot, created by post-processing to shift the colors and give the images a more intense, futuristic feeling. This is in contrast with some of his previous series that had dark, almost muddy images. The shift is done because of the feeling that people were not looking at this type of images. Resulting from the realisation that viewers often disengage from work that is important but also ubiquitous. When you talk about politics, waste, or environmentalism, it is easy for people to disconnect because they are inundated with information on these topics.

Therefore, this project is a celebration of the beauty of nature, in the hope that nature will be strong enough to absorb these fossils of the future. While this hope seems to be merely wishful thinking at this stage, it is brought to life in Plastic Utopia in the form of a happy coexistence of plants and plastic.

About the Artist:

Henri Blommers is a fine-art and portrait photographer living in Amsterdam. In 2010 he graduated from the Photo Academy in Amsterdam and since, has been working full time on photography. He collaborates with photographers as with artists in other disciplines.

Check out Henri Blommers’s full body of work at https://www.henriblommers.nl or on Instagram @henriblommers.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Our weekly themes always include three photo series by different photographers. Are you interested and do you want to stay posted?

Make sure to follow us on Instagram @wearecurators.

Written by Noura Oul Fakir

On Ondonopo, an (not yet) Imaginary World of Ice and Snow

On Ondonopo, an (not yet) Imaginary World of Ice and Snow

This week’s PhotoGenie theme is titled Artificial Nature.

Through visual stories our curators research the question “In what ways are we creating an illusion of nature?”

Tamar van Haastrecht studied at the Royal Academy for Art in The Hague, NL. As part of her graduation project, she created a photo series called ‘Ondonopo’: a visualization of an imaginary world that was born out of a bedtime story told by her father. With this series, she criticizes the limited effort done to save the real ‘Ondonopo’ - the North Pole as we know it - from the effects of global warming. The photos illustrate how mankind is substituting nature with plastic and creating an illusion of icy ecosystems.

Ondonopo is an imaginary world that exists underneath the ice on the North Pole. It is a magical place with fantastic creatures, that is based on the photographer’s childhood imagination. To question the actions and inactions of mankind with regards to the effects of global warming on our polar areas, Haastrecht decided to turn her childhood fantasies into a photo series.

Would we take more action to stop global warming if a place like Ondonopo would exist? Or would it be underappreciated as the North Pole is now? Does nature have to serve some kind of purpose, for an effort to be made? And will we be able to create our own artificial nature, if the one we have slowly disappears?

Van Haastrecht’s series was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague from the 6th-12th of July 2018. After graduating, she decided to extend the series with more photographs. After visiting Christmas markets and garden centers throughout winter, Tamar found that the polar areas gain importance during the holiday season. She saw that polar creatures and snowy mountains cover Christmas cards and other December holiday decorations. In the added photographs, she investigates the illusion of nature created by artificial sceneries of the North Pole, and the collisions between worlds of icecaps and human-made technology.

‘Ondonopo’ shows us how boundaries between what we can create and what we cannot, are getting vague. The essence of nature is that it is not created by humans, something we cannot dominate or control. As we are designing an artificial version of nature, we are doing so without this key component. What is the value of self-made nature? And isn’t it ironic that we print images of icy landscapes on plastic, while these kinds of plastics are destroying the real icy landscapes? Real nature cannot be entirely replaced by an artificial substitute, because nature can only be natural when it isn’t designed. So, how far can we then go with the illusion of nature that we create?

About the artist: Tamar van Haastrecht is a young Dutch photographer, born in Hoofddorp. She studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, NL and graduated in 2018.

Check out Tamar van Haastrecht’s full body of work at www.cargocollective.com/tamarvanhaastrecht or on Instagram @tamarhaas

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Our weekly themes always include three photo series by different photographers. Are you interested and do you want to stay posted?

Make sure to follow us on Instagram @wearecurators.

Written by Myrthe Peek

When Does the Unnatural Become Natural?

When Does the Unnatural Become Natural?

This week’s PhotoGenie theme is titled Artificial Nature.

Through visual stories our curators research the question “In what ways are we creating an illusion of nature?”

Heidi de Gier’s Plastic Panda’s was created for Bas Haring’s book of the same name – a book which studies the values of nature and its diversity, as well as the changing and disappearing of nature, in a provocative way. The book questions if – in a disastrous world where nature is disappearing, species are becoming extinct and every three seconds a piece of rainforest the size of a soccer field is cut down – there could exist only parks and agriculture, and if ultimately this could and would be enjoyable. This is done in a realistic but also optimistic manner, as all kinds of things disappear but are also replaced by others. The photos in de Gier’s series show the places that are written about by Haring. According to de Gier, topics such as “why do species disappear?” or “how much biodiversity is necessary?” were the starting point for the photo series, which mainly concerns itself with how mankind “cultivates nature or creates an illusion of it”.

In one of the photos, we see a wall with a wallpaper imitating a forest. The light coming from the window hits the wall in such a way, that it makes the existence of trees and greenery almost believable. In another photo, we see a woman inside a tanning machine – a great example of how humans attempt to recreate natural experiences, such as the feeling and end results of direct sunlight on our bodies. Through this series, we are reminded of the artificial environments which are (re)created for multiple experiences outside of their regular location and existence. For instance, the artificial habitats created by zoos in order to imitate what would be the natural habitat of whatever animal is being “exhibited” or the fake snow and mountains which attempt to recreate the experience of skiing or snowboarding in the city.

Although this series alludes to how we are slowly losing the nature and the experiences which come with it and so often try to recreate, it can also be seen as an optimistic way to look at how humans still try to implement the experience of nature in their lives – even if only artificially. This series can be related to the concept of hyperreality as argued by French sociologist, philosopher, and cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard. In his work, Simulacra and Simulation (1994), Baudrillard explores the idea of how current society has substituted all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and how human experience is a simulation of reality. According to Jean Baudrillard, representations of things are replacing the things being represented. Thus, the representation grows more important than the real thing, which intensifies the difficulty with making a distinction between what is real and what is not. As we replace nature with representations of nature, will we stop being able to distinguish real nature from artificial nature? Furthermore, to what extent is artificial nature enough and how do we even define what is enough?

Our cravings for these experiences environments should be seen as an aide-mémoire, that we must try our best to preserve the nature we already have.

About the artist: Heidi de Gier (1977) is a Dutch photographer who lives and works in Utrecht, NL. In 2005, she graduated from the Utrecht School of the Arts and is currently teaching documentary photography as a guest lecturer at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht. Her work has been exhibited all over the world and she has been awarded for her photobook both in the Netherlands and the USA.

Check out Heidi de Gier’s full body of work at www.heididegier.nl or on Instagram @heididegier.

Our weekly themes always include three photo series by different photographers. Are you interested and do you want to stay posted? Make sure to follow us on Instagram @wearecurators

Further Reading: Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard

Written by Rita Boleiro