summaery2021: Projects

Botanical Encounter

Project information

submitted by
I-Chen Lai

Mentors
Jason M. Reizner, Eva Hornecker, Brian Larson Clark, Katja Lorenz

Faculty:
Art and Design

Degree programme:
Media Art and Design -Study programme Media Art und Design (MAD) (english) (Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.))

Type of project presentation
– Other –

Semester
Summer semester 2021

attractive to children


Project description

Botanical Encounter is a collaborative mapping project online at botanical-encounter.com.
It is inspired by the 16-century naturalist book Codex Kentmanus. The book consists of illustrations from the German physician Johannes Kentmann, prints by his son Theophil Kentmann, and contributions by other artists and scholars through exchanges and collaborations. It is a book of art and science celebrating human-plant encounter and knowledge exchange. You can learn more about the book by visiting the exhibition "Land. Fluss. Kentmanus." at the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek's Studienzentrum.

During his study trip to Italy, Johannes met the plants he hadn't known before and started to paint them in detail. These artworks became one of the earliest collections of botanical illustrations. Inspired by it, Johannes' son Theophil Kentmann documented his local plants in Germany with natural self-printing. Plant parts were colored with black soot or charcoal ink, then rubbed by hand onto a paper. The resulting prints were later colored with verdigris solution and other pigments.

And you? What is your most memorable encounter with plants?
Were you moved by their stunning colors, unforgettable fragrance, or magical healing power? Draw or print the plants, write down your story and upload it to the Map of Botanical Encounters!

Email: i-chen.lai[at]uni-weimar.de

Files and presentations

Exhibition Location / Event Location

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