Wandering through the former Military Academy in Belgrade, I noticed how weeds occupied both the interior and exterior of the building. These plants exhibited a certain ambivalence: they were destroying the building, but also keeping it from falling apart. I collected these weeds and created a winter garden by carefully placing them on the staircase, leading up from the main lobby to the first floor.
“If we were to make a parallel between ecology, which observes and treats plants as they exist in nature and studies their interdependence and the relationship of each species and individual with their surroundings, and human ecology, which deals with the spatial and temporal relations among human beings under the influence of the selective, distributive and adaptable forces of the environment, we could perhaps perceive a hidden metaphor in this work, which actually problematises the ambivalence of the position of the margin in the social context. Through a metaphor positioned thus, hiding underneath the surface of the narrated stories, we can perceive the positive aspects of the position of the margin, even the hidden potential in seemingly neglected, ghettoised, ungentrified urban spaces and social spheres.”
Zoran Erić
An excerpt from the text “Plants Growing Wild in the Spaces of Art”
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Production: 51st October Salon / KCB, Belgrade, RS
