IP: Taking a Turn for Something More Real

SOooooooo I really haven't done much during the break related to my project except think, read books on identifying local plants (Seeing Trees, I highly recommend it) and hanging out in the terrarium section at Plum Market. I've come to the realization that I'd really like to learn about and work with REAL plants. My concept of the disconnected relationship between man and nature will still be super relevant I'm just going to approach it differently.

The idea of a terrarium is very interesting to me. It's something humans have created to contain and "own" a tiny bit of nature and have it with them in their homes without having to do anything to maintain it. Basically a small environment in a glass exhibit so that they can we look at nature without really having to understand it in its original environment. The terrarium is very specifically created so that the environment can survive in a small enclosed vessel with no maintenance. It supports the idea that nature is something to simply look at and that humans have the power to make any plant exist where ever they wish no matter the climate or where the plant is native.

I've always loooved terrariums, or at least the idea of a mini environment that lives in your house. Even the vessles had a very emotional - nostalgic feeling for me.

So in pursuit of exploring terrariums and the plants that can live in them I found this very very strange plant called a Lithops, or Living Rock Plant. It's originally found in desert climates in southern Africa.

It's looks kind of like a brain and then sometimes also a bu– no never mind. Strange eh?!