Flora Balistica
location: the gardens of Castellum Hoge Woerd, Utrecht, Netherlands
year: 2024-2025
dimensions: H.160 x B.180 x W.180 cm, 56 seed bombs with diameter 30 cm
materials: clay powder, planting soil, flax straw, 30 species of pollinator
friendly plant seeds
initiative/commissioner: Reaktor21 in collaboration with Zwermrepubliek and Utrecht Natuurlijk
support: with thanks to the Stokroos Foundation
Speculative scenarios for future cities often present highly material-intensive proposals to green our cities in a controlled way. In those
manmade scenarios of unlimited growth, futuristic ecology is often approached anthropocentrically. As facade greenery, as a sponge garden for intensive
precipitation, as a picking forest or play forest, as a buffer for climate adaptation and warming, all entirely in function and direction of man. Within
the Flora Balistica project, Driessens & Verstappen give nature more space from a more-than-human approach: the habitat of pollinating insects
and their symbiotic relationship with plants. They were inspired by the 'seed bombs' (a classic sowing method, reintroduced in the 1970s by
ecologist Masunoba Fukuoka and popularised by the Guerrilla Gardening movement) and the rich history of Castellum Hoge Woerd (a defensive fortress on the
northern border of the Roman Empire).
In Flora Balistica, the culture of seed bombs is further interpreted in a site-specific artwork. The intervention consists of seed bombs as large as
bullets from ancient times. The bombs are arranged in a tetrahedron, the typical shape in which the Romans stacked their large stone bullets next to their
ballista (large catapult). However, the action of the seed bombs has an opposite purpose: they are not there to repel or destroy, but rather show an
explosion of life and biodiversity. Indeed, the geometrically perfect arrangement is meant to gradually crumble and transform into a whimsical
uncontrollable shape, from which grow all kinds of plants that attract bees and insects. After the work is set up, nature is allowed to do its work
undisturbed. This process will be documented in the form of a slow, fluid time-lapse film.
During the opening visitors could disperse small seed bombs with a drone, from the Castellum's wall walk. Via a screen, they could decide where
they wanted to drop their bombs and use a button to open the cargo hold hatch, just like in a precision bombing of contemporary drone weapons. Fun fact: 'drone' also means 'male bee'.
With this project, we call attention to a regenerative culture in which nature is allowed to develop more freely on remnant plots, undesignated areas,
pollinator zones, etc. It also calls for action against massive insect mortality due to habitat reduction and declining biodiversity.
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