In a time of enforced stillness and isolation, our relationship with the natural world has taken on new significance. Camden Art Centre has launched a digital exhibition exploring the intelligence of the vegetal kingdom and its profound influence on humanity through time.
The exhibition, ‘The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and The Cosmic Tree’ was due to open physically on Earth Day (22 April), but in response to current lockdown measures, has been postponed. In the meantime, the north London gallery has launched ‘The Botanical Mind Online’, a complimentary online programme placing contemporary art, historical artefacts and radical schools of thought on plant life in a cross-era dialogue.
Joachim Koester, Untitled (cannabis), 2019. Silver Gelatin Print.
Shedding a holistic light on the significance of plants to human culture, from the indigenous traditions of the Amazon rainforest to new philosophies, the online initiative seeks to explore our physical, psychological and increasingly complex relationship with the natural world.
Through new artist commissions, films, and podcasts featuring leading voices the fields of science, anthropology, music and art, the platform spotlights a breadth of theories on themes of plant intelligence and spirituality, from quantum biology to queer nature. Viewers can dive into surrealist, modernist and contemporary perspectives, as well as an expanding archive of historical manuscripts, textiles and ethnographic artefacts spanning 500 years.
DAS INSTITUT, Dark Codex (detail), 2016 from Almanac, Eclipses and Venus, Cycles series. Courtesy the artists
Archival and new material from artists, thinkers, musicians and writers including contributions from Carl Jung, Linder and Carol Bove are staged in tandem with new digital art commissions from artists including DAS INSTITUT, Adam Chodzko and Joachim Koester.
This is a time of increasing tension between visible and non-visible forces: the micro threat of a virus and the looming impact of climate change. ‘The Botanical Mind Online’ provides a space for personal engagement, and an arena for global, trans-cultural visions on the deeply rooted relationship between human and non-human life
INFORMATION
The postponed physical edition of ’The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and The Cosmic Tree’ runs until 23 December 2020 at Camden Art Centre. camdenartcentre.org
ADDRESS
Camden Art Centre
Arkwright Rd
London NW3 6DG
-
First look at Samba Room, London’s innovative cocktail lounge packed with Brazilian energyLondon’s Samba Room, an extension of SushiSamba, is a dynamic bar, lounge and private dining space designed by Fabled Studio
-
Thom Browne shows how to make the perfect bed with theatrical performance at Milan Design Week 2024American fashion designer Thom Browne makes his Milan Design Week debut with a new homeware collection created in collaboration with historic linen company Frette
-
Cosmoprof 2024: the beauty innovations discovered by Wallpaper*Cosmoprof invited Wallpaper* to discover the latest innovations in beauty, from tech devices to natural skincare
-
Yinka Shonibare considers the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe at Serpentine SouthYinka Shonibare‘s ‘Suspended States’ at Serpentine South, London, considers history, refuge and humanitarian support (until 1 September 2024)
-
Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’Gavin Turk considers wasteful consumer culture in ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London
-
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: Bloomsbury’s untold story‘Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story’ is a new exhibition at Charleston in Lewes, UK, that charts the duo's creative legacy
-
Don’t miss: Thea Djordjadze’s site-specific sculptures in LondonThea Djordjadze’s ‘framing yours making mine’ at Sprüth Magers, London, is an exercise in restraint
-
‘Accordion Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
-
Fetishism, violence and desire: Alexis Hunter in London‘Alexis Hunter: 10 Seconds’ at London's Richard Saltoun Gallery focuses on the artist’s work from the 1970s, disrupting sexual stereotypes
-
Wayne McGregor’s new work merges genetic code, AI and choreographyCompany Wayne McGregor has collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a series of works, ‘Autobiography (v95 and v96)’, at Sadler’s Wells (12 – 13 March 2024)
-
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley confronts gaming, VR and rebirth at Studio VoltaireDanielle Brathwaite-Shirley has opened her first institutional solo exhibition, ‘THE REBIRTHING ROOM’, at Studio Voltaire, London
