Permapractices on Earth and in Space consists of two installations and plant collections: Satellite Seed Savers and Permagarden Variations—and a series of live public events—which will inform how the Genomic Gastronomy Garden in Amstelpark will develop in the following year.
This artistic research explores the seed varieties, growing conditions and unexpected guests that shape human approaches to gardening in outer space and here on Earth, and how these inform one another. Planting an edible garden in outer space, astrobotanists study the growth of plants via experiments within highly-controlled space gardens, many of which use no soil, as they attempt to simplify and control every aspect of the living environment, Here on earth, a generation of gardeners and farmers are attempting to re-incorporate perennial plants as a means of reviving soils, cultivating complex and biodiverse gardens that are resilient in the face of environmental conditions, while relinquishing control. Many decisions about the relationships between humans, plants and ecosystems are not either/or, and gardens are ideal sites for testing and debating the range and combinations of approaches from different future imaginaries.
PERMAGARDEN VARIATIONS
Stephen Barstow is a plant collector and wild forest gardener in Trondheim, Norway. The plants he has assembled and documented in his garden north of the arctic circle, serve as a year-round food source for him and his household, and have inspired others around the world to learn from his approach to what he calls “Edimentals” and “permagardens: the use of perennial plants for nutrition, beauty and environmental custodianship/care. Stephen’s garden is constantly in flux, with new plants appearing) each year, along with diverse species of birds and insects. This installation contains a video documentary in progress, following Stephen’s garden 4 seasons of the year, here focusing on Summer and Autumn as well as perennial plants from his collection which will be transplanted to the Genomic Gastronomy Garden at the end of the exhibition.
SATELLITE SEED SAVERS
Local and national seed saving programs preserve the historic agricultural biodiversity of a place, but what happens when the place is outer space? Who will assemble, maintain and propagate plant varieties that have been grown in, or cultivated for, outer space? Satellite seed savers is a post-national seed saving program that collects, distributes and preserves the agricultural biodiversity of off-planet plants. Through seed swap pop-ups and Satellite Seed Saver gardens, a network of gardeners, communities and enthusiasts are mobilised to grow and interpret the seeds of edible plants that have been cultivated or eaten in space. Satellite Seed Savers aims to direct the visitors’ gaze up towards the heavens and down towards the soil – connecting seeds planted in a garden to multi-species activities in the sky, and reflecting on environmental stewardship in outer space and here on Earth. This installation features a collection of growing plants from the Satellite Seed Saver collection as well as documentation and ephemera from previous iterations of the project in various places around the world.
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PERMAPRACTICES ON EARTH & IN SPACE was part of the “FUTURE GARDENING: Gardening as artistic practice for multispecies worldbuilding” exhibition @Zone2Source October-December, 2024.