Matthias Heckel
Tubarose
flower pot
2011
aluminum, glass
100 x 70 x 70 cm
edition of 9
Vases, flower pots, even moisture-free implements for dried-flower arrangements always follow the same basic structure; they are designed as strictly vertical configurations. Even considering the biological justification of this principle after all, plants do grow according to gravitational forces most of the arrangements we know seem quite Prussian to us; they stand there like a guard regiment lining up to salute. Matthias Heckel breaks with this principle. His Plant Swings seem almost anarchistic in comparison to the familiar order. However, his design is not based on the mere desire to express art, where the artist tries to imitate in a sculpture how roots interlace like climbing vines; no, Heckels composition of a meandering tube, a pot and a sphere is set to purely practical and functional considerations. His focus is on irrigating, i.e. the metered water supply controlled by the plant itself. Whenever the water is finished, the position of the arrangement changes. The plant basically reports the lack of water instead of fatefully surrendering to remaining upright.
