ART CITIES: Berlin-Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg is a multidisciplinary artist examining our fraught relationships with nature and technology. Through artworks, writing and curatorial projects, Ginsberg’s work explores subjects as diverse as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, conservation, biodiversity and empathy, as she investigates the human impulse to ‘better’ the world.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: AS Art Foundation Archive
“Pollinator Pathmaker” is a living artwork and participatory project conceived by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. This impactful initiative in interspecies art uses algorithmic technology to generate planting schemes for gardens, computed to support the greatest diversity of pollinating insects possible. It signals a shift toward the post-anthropocentric thinking necessary to face the current climate and biodiversity crises, and toward the non-human aesthetics and experimental formats that pave the way. Ambitious and future-minded, it is exemplary of how art can act as a driver for change, and o˜ er new perspectives on our shared planet. Responding to the alarming decline in pollinator populations in recent decades, Ginsberg has worked with horticulturalists, pollinator experts and an AI scientist to devise an algorithmic tool that designs bespoke gardens for pollinating insects. Supported by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, the LAS Edition will be customized for Continental Europe, and will feature more than 7,000 plants of 80 different varieties, planted over a 722-square-metre plot. The “Pollinator Pathmaker” tool works by selecting a regional Plant Palette – a list of plants specially-curated by the artist – which matches pollinating insects and the plants they forage from with a given plot’s soil type and weather exposure. Ginsberg’s algorithm then uses this data to create a unique planting scheme, optimized to support as many species as possible. Users can play with the algorithm’s settings by experimenting with the number of desired plants and by creating intricate patterns and shapes to suit the foraging styles of different insects. For the first time, users can then generate their planting instructions in English and German, and obtain a certificate of authenticity for their own DIY Edition of up to 15 square meters, which will be illustrated by 3D visualizations of plants painted by Ginsberg. The result is a growing network of living artworks that create habitats for insects. Ginsberg aims to make “Pollinator Pathmaker” the world’s largest climate-positive artwork, of which the LAS Edition and DIY campaign will form a vital part. The project will prompt local communities to consider the necessity of green spaces in cities, and suggest the concrete actions that people can take to benefit their non-human neighbors. On a broader level, it will spark timely conversations about anthropocentrism, environmental protection and agency in the face of the current ecological crisis. Initiated by LAS, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin also hosts an interactive education programme in spring and summer 2023. Inspiring young people to understand the crucial role that pollinators play in the environment, students at partnering primary schools will be guided through ‘insect hotels’ built for their own school gardens, and invited to create their own DIY Editions of “Pollinator Pathmaker” via Ginsberg’s online too.
Photo: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Pollinator Pathmake, Museum für Naturkunde-Berlin, 2023-2026, Courtesy the artist and Museum für Naturkunde
Info: Curators: Sophie Korschildgen and Carly Whitefield, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin, Germany, Duration: 20/6/2023-1/11/2026, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 9:30-18:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00, www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/
