Gallery Orangery, Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, 2018
Entering into a dialogue with the former function of the “Oranżeria” [Orangery] Gallery, my installation Red greenhouse refers to a method of industrial plant cultivation by means of artificial lighting. Plants, in the process of photosynthesis, derive most benefits from the colours red and blue, hence industrial growing most often employs their mixture. Proportions of the two colours are established depending on a stage of growth: the blue light – indispensable at the beginnings of a plant cycle of growth – is least absorbed or helpful in the production of chlorophyll; whereas the red light is the most required at the stage of bloom. However, I became interested in an anomaly occurring, when only one spectrum of light is used: the red. Plants grown with the sole use of red light present changes in appearance: their leaves become thin and large, and their cuttings excessively elongated. This potential deformation as well as a tension in which runs the boundary between the natural and artificial correspond to objects prepared for this exhibition.
RED GREENHOUSE