Terrarium - Taichung World Flora Exposition, 2018
Dracaena sanderiana, pot, stone, pear tree stem, glass tank, ultraviolet light bulb, pump, water, albino snail, Methylene blue
Dimensions variable

[The relationship between human beings and nature has never been a constant state. Before human beings thought that they could control nature, nature was a gift and also a horror. Later, when modern society was formed, human beings were gradually separated from nature. Humans redefined nature and even changed nature. Finally, we even created nature. The artist takes “terrarium” as the work’s title, suggesting that the entire space is a huge man-made space.

The entire floor is covered with pear branches, which are the “wastes” produced during the grifting process. Usually, they would be discarded. However, we purchase the branches from farmers, collecting and reusing them. Grafting is also a technique which is used for intervening in nature, and these pear branches laid on the ground are reminiscent of the bark that is commonly used in gardening landscapes for protecting soil, preventing weeds, and decoration. Grafting waste these natural beings that have been taken away by humans are now becoming part of the "artificial nature."

Pineapple-shaped bonsais, made of lucky bamboo, are put on the pear-branch floor. From dragon blood tree to lucky bamboo to pineapple (Ong-Lai), human beings keep placing their preference, connotation and imagination on nature through the entitled names, breeding and shaping. The glass tanks, also placed on the ground, contain methylene blue solution (usually added to the aquarium for sterilization and treatment of aquarium diseases). The aquarium is also a form of terrarium, a "simulated nature" created by mankind to preserve nature. An ultraviolet bulb is hung above each aquarium, faintly illuminating the white shiny snail shell in the blue solution.]

*This project participates: The Land in Between—plant and human’s dream of sustainability, which is the special exhibition program of 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo.
Organizer: Hao Jhe Liao Studio