Vaettir

Inspired by The Swiss Declaration of Plant Right’s, Vaettir is a project, masterminded from a team of poetic geniuses by taking a playful look at the nature of our relationships with plants intended as living entities. One half of the projects double team leaders, Jenny Lee caught up with A to speak about how Vaettir actually came to life.

First off, how did the concept for the project come about?

I participate in a workshop called Botanical Fabrications set up by Carole Collet and EDF.

This workshop was looking at how we could potentially utilise botanical methods to grow new materials/products from plants.

What was your role in the production of the project, and in going forward with it?

My role was conceptual designer – we came up with the concept and design of the artefacts.

How long did the project take to come together?

About a year.

Social

Companion

What was the inspiration behind the name of the project?

Vaettir is an old norse term which means ‘nature spirits’.

Is the theme intended to be tongue in cheek entirely or do you want to promote the aspect of science behind it?

The project is a poetic and humorous look at plant and human interactions – we did carry out some research from a scientific angle but most of this research hasn’t been peer reviewed so that this no consensus evidence to state that plants have feelings. We just wanted to make a point that plants enrich our lives on so many levels but we often don’t value them as much as we do with other things. Instead sometimes we think of nature as a commodity to be utilised for our own means.

Visually Vaettir is stunning work. Who collaborated on this?

Amy and I designed the pieces and then collaborated with two makers Aimee Bollu and Melody Vaughn to help us craft the pieces.

What did you intend the project to make the viewer feel or think about?

To consider our relationships with plants and how they enrich our lives.

Where can we catch the project at?

Exhibition planning is in progress and is to be confirmed as soon as possible.

Vanity

Sensitive

Makers- Aimee Bollu & Melody Vaughan

Technologist- Danny Thompson

Illustrator- Daniel Loader

Stylist- Jenny Lee

Photographer- JJ Hastings