Flurina Badel & Jérémie Sarbach
Flurina Badel (1983) and Jérémie Sarbach (1991) live and work in Guarda, Canton Graubünden. The duo, who have been collaborating since 2014, address themes such as landscape evolution, the relationship between nature and culture in the Anthropocene, and the interface of the analog and digital world in an artistic oeuvre that mobilizes various media (installations, sculpture, photography, video, sound, and performance). Badel & Sarbach invite us to put ourselves in the shoes of the bird featured on the poster, which has the peculiarity of forgetting where it hides its seed reserves. In so doing, it actively participates in the vegetation of its ecosystem.
Fun Fact
Unlike other seeds, which can be dispersed by the wind or cling to the hairs of passing animals, acorns simply fall from the oak or are picked directly by squirrels. The squirrels contribute to their dispersal in a surprising way: the tree increases its production of acorns in certain years, so that the squirrel is unable to eat them all. Excess acorns are 'forgotten' in hiding places, where they eventually germinate and produce new oaks. This irregular production prevents the squirrel population from increasing and adapting to the quantity of acorns, thus ensuring the survival of certain acorns and their cyclical dispersion.
Call to Action
A global seed bank exists on the Svalbard archipelago off the coast of Norway. Located in the permafrost, its purpose is to store plant seeds from all over the world for the long term, thus constituting a colossal safeguard of their genetic heritage. Many of these seeds form the basis of our diet, ensuring the survival of our agriculture against possible diseases, catastrophes, extinctions and other unforeseeable events. The bank currently holds over 1,300,000 specimens, with the potential for millions more. You can take a virtual tour of the bank: https://seedvaultvirtualtour.com/
Riddle
Which plant's seeds were the inspiration for Velcro?
A) Burdock hooks
B) Bedstraw
C) Torilis