Taradina Anna

Author about the concept of the project shortlisted for the M17 Sculpture Prize:

“The installation was created while working with the Kharkiv National University Botanic Garden collection. It is an alternative to a herbarium that scientists gather to study plants. The ‘Herbarium’ is another method for examining the flora, learning it through form and tactility.

Plant collecting is a very intimate process of communicating with nature, a special moment when people pay attention to natural structures and begin to really fully notice the world we are constantly in. In an effort to preserve this fleeting moment of unity with nature, we hide it on our bookshelves.”

Marianne Wagner, an expert of the Selection Jury of the Prize, comments on the project:

“The installation’s aesthetics is pointing to laboratory processes and situations. This could be a good starting point to think about sculpture in the city space in general and to reflect on the question of what an organism needs for its development. The performative qualities of this work and the opportunities to connect with institutions on-site (like a botanical garden) make it very interesting to follow up this idea and to see how the artist can intensify discussions about sculpture and communication processes (and how artists can do it in general).”

M17 Sculpture Prize