Writer Esther Leslie joins Melanie Jackson to discuss The Urpflanze exhibition and their collaborative publication, the newspaper that circulates alongside the show.
This publication grew out of a series of conversations stemming from a mutual interest in Goethe’s idea of the ‘The Primal Plant’, an imaginary plant that contains coiled up within it the potential to generate all possible future forms. It speculates on the myriad ways humans interact with with flora, from plant genetics and biomimicry, tales of space pumpkins and fluorescing underwater forms, bejewelled pomegranates to EU mandates on biotechnology and plant industries.
