The Children’s Sensorium 2022 RMIT Design Hub. Photographs: Tobias Titz
The Children’s Sensorium includes works by Tamara Borovica, Heather Hesterman, Fiona Hillary, Larissa Hjorth, Live Particle (Angela Clarke and Camilla Maling), Philip Samartzis, Anna Schwann and Hiromi Tango, with leading artistic direction from Boonwurrung elder N’arweet Carloyn Briggs, and with designs by Anthony Clarke.
Collectively produced by: Kelly Hussey-Smith, Grace McQuilten, Helen Rayment and Andrew Tetzlaff, and with the support of Jill Bennett, Renata Kokanovic and a community advisory.
My contribution was Plantbathing Lab, featuring three pods—Tree, Hedge, and Garden —inviting humans to smell, touch, taste, feel, and look at plants closely. Humans were encouraged to view plants under microscopes and draw what they saw onto paper or the walls. This aims to grow closer human-plant relationships, develop chlorophilia- a deeper love for plants, and to grow greener futures.
Each iteration featured approximately 130 trees, shrubs, grasses and herbs in the gallery housed under artificial conditions with LED Grow lights. This amplifies the conditions and disconnect that some humans might feel towards plants. Embracing eco-activism, conversations and gardening workshops were held in the gallery space, with participants going home with soft-cutting plants to grow and care for. All the plants were gifted to find their ‘forever home’ in domestic gardens, schools, public/open space programs, and re-wilding projects. This is the most meaningful action I can do: to cultivate care for plants through creative, practice-led research.
Plantbathing Lab used recycled plywood and materials and was fabricated by the RMIT Production Team, Cultures. Led by Erik North with Robert Bridgewater, Mason Cox, Nik Dolman, Tim McLeod and Simon Maisch
Please follow this link for the Archives of Feeling exhibition catalogue.
The Children’s Sensorium (2022-2026) has been presented in several venues, including RMIT University Design Hub, Castlemaine Art Museum, Hamilton Regional Gallery, Bayside Gallery, Brighton and Pinnacles Gallery, Townsville.
More information is available at The Children’s Sensorium website.
Media
Erica Vowles. Produced 27 Sept 2022 9:26am
Liz Hobday
Heather Hesterman 