InterCultural Pollination of the Present
2019
Culinary herb seeds, unpasteurized honey, hand blown glass, wood, polycarbonate, chlorophyll ink, pyrography.
This small living time capsule/reliquary is composed of several layers that relate to the mutually affectual culinary activities of humans and bees. A wooden container engraved with botanical illustrations carries a blown glass vessel. This vessel contains a variety of plant seeds from culinary herbs that are specifically chosen for their desirability to bees for pollination. The seeds are suspended in pure, unpasteurized honey; which acts as a preserving agent. In this way, the result of the bees’ labour - honey - is used to preserve the futures of the very plants they used to create it inside a vessel created by human hands. Thus the project acts as a locus of combined plant/insect/human culture.
In the early summer of 2019, this project along with several others around the world was chosen a one day Agri-Cultures/Seed.Links exhibition for one day in Longyearbyen, Svalbard before being interred permanently in the original global seed vault located nearby. Inside the abandoned coal mine the old vault lies within, a growing archive of contemporary artwork (The Svalbard Seed Cultures Ark) acts as a cultural tangent to the biological seed archive that exists adjacently in the same mountain.
Seed Cultures Archive:
List of Culinary Herbs Included:
Basil
Borage
Chives
Coriander (Cilantro)
Dill
Fennel
Lavender
Lemon Balm (Melissa)
Mint
Nasturtium
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Summer Savory
Tarragon
Thyme
