Constructed Nature
Margaret Yang
“Constructed nature” encapsulates the full spectrum of human interventions upon plants and their integration into human
ideologies, going beyond the conventional notion of 'artificiality,' such as imitations or reproductions of nature. This
term exposes existing relegation towards plants within the Anthropocene mindset. Projects based on this concept explore
speculative roles that plants could undertake in shaping the present and future world, from the classification of
containment, imitation, modification, and hybridization.
Constructed Nature
This video gathers several projects in “Constructed Nature,” such as the small moss installation “Creatures in Time,” the photo series “A Changing Orange,” the collage “Virtuality & Reality.”, and the speculative design “Symbiosis Algae Device.”
Symbiosis Algae Device
It’s a portable oxygen device made from algae. Microalgae are single-celled algae that can rapidly take up CO2 from the surrounding environment during photosynthesis. The algae device can instantly exchange oxygen from CO2 in an air-polluted future. The device aims to build a new, stable, and more equal relationship between humans and plants with mutual benefits.
Symbiosis Algae Device
Creatures in Time
Geometric patterns are extracted from 8 concepts related to time and visualized with natural material, moss. Transparent glass symbolizes the invisible feature of time, and natural plant material symbolizes living creatures in time. The project also explores the plants’ role of being contained as a resource.
Glitching Virtuality & Reality
The popularity of AI has pushed human imitation of plants from physical to digital with much less effort. In this project, AI-generated moss images and actual moss images are collaged together. The dot effect blurs the image, representing our weakening ability to distinguish them, and obvious color differences symbolize the core difference.
A Changing Orange
This photo series features an orange as the subject, showing multiple modifications made to it, from how it was born to how it is barely recognizable. The changing process of this orange represents and exaggerates modifications in “constructed nature. “
What’s Been Pruned
This project uses cyanotype as the main technique, creating a natural pattern book with the concept of “pruning.” The book starts with “pruning” and explores how the pruned plant connects with the usually cut-off and thrown-away parts.
Thesis Book
