Columbus of Horticulture

This work stems from Vvzela Kook’s research about the role of botany in the history of imperialism. Botanical science became an important part of empire-building for European countries during the 16th to 19th century, as maritime exploration often profited from the discovery of valuable exotic plants. Focusing on the British colonial “plant hunter,” who searched the empire’s colonies for precious plants and seeds to bring back to the royal botanical gardens, this animation simulates the frenzied excitement of discovery, as well as the colonial desire to scour new botanical resources. While the animation imagines a fictional island, accompanying objects encased in glass vitrines model actual botanical specimens such as rubber tree, tea tree and orchid, all connected with the colonization of South America, India and Hong Kong.

(Text by Joyce Hei-ting Wong)

Drowned in, or not in the swimming pool

This work is a production during the artist’s residency in Nuremberg. The video work focuses on the entirely different destinations of the fire bowls that were placed on top of Zeppelin Tribune in a Nazi rally site. After WWI, one of the firebowls was preserved, but the other one somehow became a paddling pool for children at a public swimming pool, colored orange and blue. Once the strong symbol of power, now the fire bowls again stand with each other, separated with a door as if each is the other’s absurd time capsule. The winding path of the “object” illustrates the ever changing of human history and represents the worst of human nature in its capability of destruction, discrimination and lies.