23 March – 13 April 2017
heliumcowboy artspace, Hamburg, Germany
Exhibited artists: Giovanni Castell (GER), Lisa Creagh (UK), Sakir Gökçebag (TUR), Janaina Mello Landini (BRA), Liz Orton (UK), Jens Rausch (GER), Maren Simon (GER), Katie Spragg (UK), and Sadie Weis (USA)
Curated by Rosie Jenkins, Eline Verstegen and Chiara Villa
Influenced by digitization, urbanism and ecological awareness, human ways of engaging with the natural environment have changed significantly throughout recent years. As a response to this condition, a vast number of contemporary artists have started to investigate this shifting relationship by simulating the very nature we have become disconnected from.
The Best Bogus Botanical Garden then aims to look at art practices that seem to recreate nature, either by manipulating organic elements in new forms, or by inventing their own materials. To further enhance the illusion of these simulacra, the exhibition takes the form of an immersive environment, literally transforming the white cube gallery space into an artificial botanical garden.
A catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition and in-depth research texts were made available online.
Eline Verstegen 