LFCD

The Garden is an interactive installation consisting of 110 flowers scattered across the floor, each composed entirely of recycled water bottles. The numerous sculptures reflect the growing socio-environmental debate around consumer waste, and draw attention to the integrity, flexibility, and innovation that was once "the material of a thousand uses," aka synthetic plastics. Inspired by Brian Jungen's Prototype for New Understanding #23 and the mise-en-scène of Pixar’s Wall-E, this installation displays how capitalism and technological evolution share an uncomfortable coexistence with nature. Since the industrial revolution, the act of consuming—particularly in Western society—has seamlessly integrated into our everyday lives. In just over a century, this behavior, shaped by media and social expectations for the average individual, has developed with little to no regard for future consequences. The Garden itself is meant to be repulsive—once again reflecting on capitalist ideals shown in modern society. There is no intention to hide the fact that these are simply recycled water bottles, as the shape, colour, and weight remain the same. The work was created to be blatantly obvious. This is not nature taking its course, it’s a problem. And quick, simple solutions like landfills, the ocean, and even outer space are no longer a sustainable answer. They never were.