Wildflower Wall
Seedings, compost, string, reclaimed waste. Interactive street intervention, TomCat Festival. Limerick, Ireland. 2013.
For one day, a collection of wildflower seedlings was attached to the railings of a slack space on Thomas Street in Limerick City. They were potted in coffee cups and other receptacles found on the streets of Limerick. With a few modifications, these waste products became hanging baskets for starting seeds and displaying these young plants. The seeds used were saved from the previous year’s wildflower plants which were grown in Limerick City as part of the Wildroutes Project.
Beside the wall was a sign with instructions on how to care for the plants. The Wildflower Wall was a vertical garden designed to be taken apart piece by piece by the public. Passers-by were invited to take a plant from the wall and were encouraged to nurture it to maturity. By performing this action, the public becomes decision maker and artist in the piece, determining the result of the action. The plant will either survive, thrive, or die. The responsibility is ultimately in the hands of the individual. The aim of this work was to rethink the concepts of waste and disposable objects while understanding the responsibility and care involved in the stewardship of the natural world.