Humains de Jardins Turns Real People into Plants
Humains de Jardins exhibition. Fishing! Photo by Annie Shreeve
This weekend I attended the most interesting exhibition I have been to in some time. Humains de Jardins – Poesis 2 was a live exhibition held at the Botanical Gardens. People were literally ‘planted’ for 20 minute sessions in and around the garden where they stayed and performed daily tasks in an attempt to create a connection between our daily lives and nature. It was quite extraordinary.
Singing at Humains de Jardins. Photo by Annie Shreeve
For creator François Grisé, it was his second live performance exhibition. After the successful “Projet les Emballés” where Grisé wrapped and staged 100 people around the city in body bags encouraging people to question the notions of life and death, he decided on a slightly more lighthearted but equally as important line of questioning for this exhibition. Highly involved with theatre and curious about our daily lives and our natural world, Grisé devised this concept in an attempt to encourage others to question similar ideas and notions. And, I believe, he achieved exactly this.
Drinking tea at Humains de Jardins. Photo by Annie Shreeve
Humains de Jardins was a playful and enlightening exhibition and it created an atmosphere where people were questioning and comparing elements of our daily lives. It was fun. People chatted to the ‘exhibitions’, they asked questions and involved themselves in a large degree. And it was refreshing to see people of all ages involved in both in the exhibition and visiting.
Getting Involved! Photo by Annie Shreeve
For me, I wondered what it would be like to be ‘planted.’ Imagine if our lives were not nomadic. I wondered if this experience for the volunteers would change their outlooks after their involvement or if they would simply push it aside. For one volunteer, he said this experience has allowed him to realise the importance of taking time to reflect, connect with nature and relax. He said, from now on he will try to do this more often.
Bodybuilding at the Humains de Jardins. Photo by Annie Shreeve
And I think this is exactly what Grisé was hoping to achieve — a realisation of the importance of our natural world, its beauty and the notion that it really is going to last a whole lot longer than you and I.
Humains de Jardins was held at the Botanical Gardens on Sunday August 10 from 12 to 4pm.
