Primordium

'Primordium' (from Latin word meaning 'first beginning' or 'origin') n interactive, site-specific work in the Harold Martin Botanic Gardens, University of Leicester, UK. It is inspired by the botanist's use of bamboo canes, labelling and the application of Latin for plant classification. The installation employs bamboo canes, each one labelled and containing text from the Old Testament to identify and define an architectural space that may be entered by the viewer. Additional labels and pencils are available, with the audience invited to add their words to the installation. These words have been collected, recorded; a see selection of messages in the two slideshows below.   This piece forms an extension of long term concerns with the parallels to be found in human condition and architecture, the way in which humans adapt the landscape to suit individual and collective needs, both physical and spiritual. ‘Primordium’, as a site specific installation, particularly addresses issues of permanence and impermanence through the fragility of the materials and the temporary nature of its physical existence in this location. Labels bore a record of the responses to the piece.