Pruned: Living Dead: 10 Topographical Investigations, Part I

Garden (2000) by Marc Quinn is a real botanical garden, full of plants and flowers from all over the world. They are displayed in full bloom, and are potentially eternal: the nearly 1000 specimens are immersed in twenty-five tons of liquid silicone kept at a constant temperature of -80˚ Celsius. They can neither grow or perish, an unreal dimension that cannot exist unless produced artificially. And though frozen, they produce an enchantment of continuous spring.

Gardens by Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn: “The flowers, when they freeze, become pure image. They become an image of perfect flower, because in reality their matter is dead and they are suspended in a state of transformation between pure image and pure matter.”

Gardens by Marc Quinn

Links:
Marc Quinn @ Fondazione Prada
Marc Quinn @ designboom
Marc Quinn @ eyestorm

Labels: post-nature

7 Comment(s)

Jimmy Online said...: ( November 8, 2005 11:34:00 PM CST ); I love the faura exhibition. I am into gardening lately and your post was really a stunner. I can imagine my surrounding years from now should I continue to propagate flowers. Of course I will see beauty, but there is something more than what the eyes can see.
homebru said...: ( December 5, 2005 10:22:00 AM CST ); Lovely. But liquid silicon?

Silicon is a gray, metallic solid at temperatures below 1400 degrees Centigrade.

The gardens must be preserved in something else.
Alexander Trevi said...: ( December 5, 2005 12:34:00 PM CST ); We're fairly certain it's silicon. Head over to Fondazione Prada for their exhibition press release. It's at a warmish -80 degrees Celcius, well above -140. But we'll investigate further. We didn't know silicon has that property.
Batmanzurek said...: ( December 6, 2005 12:05:00 AM CST ); Immersed in silicone, that has the property to remain liquid and transparent at freezing temperature, the plants are frozen in this special enviroment...in a state of suspended animation. Fondazione Prada. "Marc Quinn." Press release n. 2., Milan. 5 May 2000. Page 3, lines 2- 3.

This is what the paper has to say about liqid sili-CONE. There is a big difference between silicone and silicon.
Alexander Trevi said...: ( December 6, 2005 12:26:00 AM CST ); There is indeed a difference: Silicone vs. Silicon.

To homebru and batmanzurek, thanks for pointing this out.

The post has been corrected.
jinx said...: ( January 7, 2006 6:18:00 AM CST ); those surely are colorfull hehe
TGentry said...: ( January 8, 2007 2:41:00 PM CST ); Sorry to comment over a year after original post, but i thought this was amazing. Being a huge George Romero fan, I easpecially loved your title. I work in a seed lab and get to see many interesting plants, but this "garden" blows my mind.

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Living Dead: 10 Topographical Investigations, Part I Monday, November 07, 2005 \| Permalink Garden (2000) by Marc Quinn is a real botanical garden, full of plants and flowers from all over the world. They are displayed in full bloom, and are potentially eternal: the nearly 1000 specimens are immersed in twenty-five tons of liquid silicone kept at a constant temperature of -80˚ Celsius. They can neither grow or perish, an unreal dimension that cannot exist unless produced artificially. And though frozen, they produce an enchantment of continuous spring. Marc Quinn: “The flowers, when they freeze, become pure image. They become an image of perfect flower, because in reality their matter is dead and they are suspended in a state of transformation between pure image and pure matter.” Links: Marc Quinn @ Fondazione Prada Marc Quinn @ designboom Marc Quinn @ eyestorm Labels: post-nature 7 Comment(s) Jimmy Online said... ( November 8, 2005 11:34:00 PM CST ) I love the faura exhibition. I am into gardening lately and your post was really a stunner. I can imagine my surrounding years from now should I continue to propagate flowers. Of course I will see beauty, but there is something more than what the eyes can see. homebru said... ( December 5, 2005 10:22:00 AM CST ) Lovely. But liquid silicon? Silicon is a gray, metallic solid at temperatures below 1400 degrees Centigrade. The gardens must be preserved in something else. Alexander Trevi said... ( December 5, 2005 12:34:00 PM CST ) We're fairly certain it's silicon. Head over to Fondazione Prada for their exhibition press release. It's at a warmish -80 degrees Celcius, well above -140. But we'll investigate further. We didn't know silicon has that property. Batmanzurek said... ( December 6, 2005 12:05:00 AM CST ) Immersed in silicone, that has the property to remain liquid and transparent at freezing temperature, the plants are frozen in this special enviroment...in a state of suspended animation. Fondazione Prada. "Marc Quinn." Press release n. 2., Milan. 5 May 2000. Page 3, lines 2- 3. This is what the paper has to say about liqid sili-CONE. There is a big difference between silicone and silicon. Alexander Trevi said... ( December 6, 2005 12:26:00 AM CST ) There is indeed a difference: Silicone vs. Silicon. To homebru and batmanzurek, thanks for pointing this out. The post has been corrected. jinx said... ( January 7, 2006 6:18:00 AM CST ) those surely are colorfull hehe TGentry said... ( January 8, 2007 2:41:00 PM CST ) Sorry to comment over a year after original post, but i thought this was amazing. Being a huge George Romero fan, I easpecially loved your title. I work in a seed lab and get to see many interesting plants, but this "garden" blows my mind. Post a Comment

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