Ambasada Natury. O znaczeniu porastania i innych relacjach z roślinami
Embassy of Nature. The importance of overgrowth and other relationships with plants

Summary/Abstract: Human–plant interactions are dominated by practices of control, maintenance of order and demarcation of interspecies contact zones. Activities that fall within this paradigm (such as lawn trimming, weed removal, and algae control) are "transparent” activities, more or less unreflective. Although we know more and more about water retention, the role of urban meadows and biodiversity, refraining from mowing grass in public spaces is still met with accusations of “neglecting the property”. In our work, we refer to several concepts, including the idea of consent to overgrowth put forward by Ariel Modrzyk (2022). Seeking to break the dominant paradigm of control, we discuss the physical and symbolic meaning of overgrowth, referring to the spontaneous and unregulated proliferation of plant species in urban areas, often occurring in abandoned spaces. In the text, we present the artistic action of establishing the Ambasada Natury (Embassy of Nature), undertaken by a local coalition of artists in 2023.

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