Is there still any space left for Eden in contemporary world? Is it only far away from cities? Do we need to travel a long way to get there, or can we have a semblance of Eden in the midst of civilization?
Green patches between buildings. Some grass, flowers, sometimes vegetables and fruit. Sometimes these places are fenced, with garden furniture and other objects. Places we don’t know, yet they seem familiar, even if they come from a country other than ours. Pieces of someone’s private space we can peek at on the photographs by Todd Forsgren.
The “Post-Industrial Eden” exhibition is open at NOMUS New Art Museum in Gdańsk starting from 5 July. It is a presentation of photographs from the same series. Since 2004, the artist has been documenting small garden enclaves in the USA, Cuba, Mongolia, Japan, the UK, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and in Poland. Todd Forsgren studied visual arts and biology. In his artistic practice, he refers to issues related to ecology, landscape, and climate change. Visiting the exhibition, we can see how small-scale gardening is being pursued in distant countries. Despite numerous differences resulting from climate or landscape characteristics, we are bound to find a lot of things in common in these gardens. The “Post-Industrial Eden” series is not only photo documentation but also a starting point for a discussion on the ideals and problems of the contemporary world.
Behind a fence
Eden is a biblical paradise, a place of eternal bliss. In art, it is most often presented as a vast garden filled with trees and flowers. We can also find smaller gardens in ancient traditions, so called hortus conclusus, or enclosed gardens. They were small gardens within castles, enclosed with a wall, where mostly flowers and herbs were planted. It was this wall enclosure that gained a symbolic meaning and was presented as background in Annunciation scenes. The gardens we can see in the photographs are often surrounded with a fence, separating them from urban development.
The fence is a boundary between the private and the public. It creates a mini enclave, a place for refuge from the city. At the same time, through selecting such shots, the artist is trying to connect the garden spaces with the worlds behind the fence, and even behind the frame of the photograph.
Todd Forsgren defines gardens as a bridge between contemporary cities and wild landscapes our ancestors were familiar with. They are places where the city and rural areas are merged together. Places where nature and civilization are not mutually exclusive, but co-exist in a balanced manner. In the past, agriculture and horticulture allowed people to settle in one place, and as a result, it gave rise to the development of cities – isn’t it paradoxical that the thing that was the foundation for city existence, today is perceived as its total opposite?
The juxtaposition of civilization and nature, the city and the country, which has been present in culture for a long time now, is apparent here. But the nature we can see in Forsgren’s photographs has little in common with the romantic vision of untamed and dangerous wilderness. Allotment gardens or other plant cultivation areas in cities are nature under control, tamed and safe. It may be Eden as a place of recluse and isolation on our own terms. It is also nature serving humans – a lot of photographs show fruit and vegetable crops. Gardening and growing plants for our own needs have been gaining popularity since the beginning of the 21st century. On the one hand, it is related to an increased interest in organic food and self-sufficiency, and on the other hand, it is caused by growing prices of fruit and vegetables, which encourages city residents to grow their own products.
More than vegetables
Forsgren’s photography series draws the viewers’ attention to diverse ideas behind the motif of establishing and growing gardens. In many places, the origins of such activities originated from the need to provide fresh food. For instance, Victory Gardens, created during World War II in the USA, were able to cater for forty percent of the demand for vegetables consumed there during the war. In Europe, small gardens became fairly popular in numerous regions in the communist era, giving city residents a chance to escape from vast concrete housing estates, and often supplementing the supply of fresh products which was insufficient at the time.
Today, the gardens enjoy growing popularity, also among environmentalists, young Europeans, and those representing such movements as “Slow Food” which are a response to mass agricultural production and fast food. In early 21st century, the increased interest in horticulture was thriving alongside the aggravating political, economic, and climate crises. The growing awareness of the impact of these crises compelled societies to revise their existing approach to capitalism and public institutions. The growing social disappointment, the pandemic, the war and mass migration movements arising from armed conflicts in various parts of the world, have awoken interest in nature and encouraged people to perceive it as a refuge in the face of social unrest with no constant point of reference. A lot of people have changed the consumerist habits and realised how much they missed contacts with nature.
With growing food prices and shortages, significant numbers of people turned to self-sufficiency, organic food, and everything that is local. Small horticultures have gained a growing number of enthusiasts who started to see them as places free from grand politics and broadly understood globalisation.
Perhaps due to this uncertainty and the effort needed to start a garden, these gardeners often develop a strong sense of community. The gardens often become social integration centres. At the same time, moving this space away from one’s home and backyard, and the related small financial obligations seem to dull the sense of personal responsibility for maintaining the garden in a certain extent. Forlorn and derelict allotments are often right next to those impeccably maintained in a perfect condition. In some cases, particularly successful gardening projects were even blamed for becoming a driving force of gentrification in the area. At the same time, social gardens are being arranged, and their existence is based on such ideals as local touch, collective actions, and a boost in community engagement. The gardens are not only becoming an agricultural space, but also a community meeting place.
Humans and nature in crisis
The need for commune with nature refers to our primitive instincts. Being around nature reduces stress and tension, allows a rest to our eyes, tired with the surge of digital images we are exposed to every day. On the other hand, humans’ environmental impact, the continuous devastation of the natural environment, and the development of civilization are vital topics these days. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the voices of nature-conservation organisations are becoming increasingly prominent, while the climate catastrophe is being discussed more and more extensively. Is there still any space left for Eden in contemporary world? Is it only far away from cities? Do we need to travel a long way to get there, or can we have a semblance of Eden in the midst of civilization? There are no clear-cut answers to these questions. The notion of wilderness is something that has almost disappeared from the face of the Earth, as there are nearly no places that have not been affected by the human hand somehow.
In his numerous projects, Forsgren refers to the human impact on nature, which can be seen in photographs showing birds that were temporarily captured in nets during ornithological studies. This entire series of ornithological photographs results from the artist’s interest in bird watching, and this in turn has led him to photographing gardens. The “Post-Industrial Eden” project began with a walk across The Fenway Victory Gardens with his camera and binoculars in search for birds.
The artist notices and evokes various ideas that shape these small-scale gardens, and treats them as the “Edens of our times”. Humans are part of the ecosystem – and are dependent on it in a smaller or greater extent. Striving towards balance and minimal exploitation of natural resources, combined with search for self-sufficiency, are grass-roots initiatives that affect the attitudes of growing numbers of people and political decisions concerning the reduction of climate crisis impact.
The “Post-Industrial Eden” exhibition involves action aimed at raising ecological awareness and influencing our shared responsibility for the fate of our planet. The themes discussed as part of the project align with contemporary research interests and directions of philosophical changes in our approach to nature and its resources. It is a voice in a debate on climate change taking place among scholars, politicians, and art circles. It also reflects trends in which self-sufficiency, mental well-being and intimate commune with nature are becoming more important than consumption. The photographs are a response to the overflow of virtual spaces and the democratised access to new technologies whose excessive use might lead to loneliness and weakened human relations. Todd Forsgren’s photography series may be perceived as a compass setting the direction where we should look for the broadly understood balance and harmony in the face of contemporary threats.
