I have been doing a lot of thinking, and coming back to this idea of the ‘artificial landscape’. I had been stuck on the artificial in relation to the virtual version, recreating a landscape digitally, this is one strand of an artificial but then had gotten interested in Magritte’s The Treachery of Images (1929) famous for its representation of a pipe written “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”, French for “This is not a pipe”.
Thinking on the artificial landscape, I realised that my paintings were just that, but also historic paintings being an artificial landscape, not as they are representations but because they don’t exist in the real world, they exist as ideas of landscape.
Now paintings are artificial landscapes or sections of land, if I dug a 1 m x 1 m x 1 m cubed section of land that maybe a landscape, but if I recreated that cube would that be artificial, I believe so, now what if there was a massive piece of land that was replanted, when does that plot of land replanted become recreated or a representation of our understanding of landscape and land, human made sections can also be considered to be artificial landscape, which made me think of recreating my own section, I have grown native plant species as an interest but am wondering how this could be used to form a representation, a living copy of a space which exists or even just a new section.
While trying to view the world around me, I began to use my knowledge of plant species, I removed weeds from the river hosting native species and then recreated these areas, this is a scrambling speedwell, an invasive species, this jar is a replication of the river bank, with some other invasive grass and other invasive herbaceous species.
I have started to look at how these artificial or ‘fake’ remakes of the world could be used, but in a relation to protect areas, we are altering and changing it physically, choosing where to plant species and what to pull out, clearing. I am not against but aware of events.
I have also started to grow native species instead, as the ones the council plants seem to be planted and then ignored, I know you aren’t meant to, but is it better to leave them to possible be over run? I hold specimen to plant. I don’t take much.
Llenyd Price 