Abstract/Summary

An exhibition curated by Neal White and Tina O'Connell with Alice Smits funded by The Mondriaan Fonds, NL, zone2source, Amsterdam and CREAM, University of Westminster. Perfect Nature: Amstelpark Test Site was a group exhibition and field experiment organised by zone2source in Amsterdam in collaboration with Neal White of CREAM in London. This project started by engaging in questions of how local and indigenous knowledge relates to scientific methodology. The curation and research project explored the impact that scientific and visual classification systems of the natural world have on our relationship to flora and fauna. The artworks presented included scientific representations of nature – which we encounter for example in the field of international trade in plants, plant medicines and soil – alongside local cultural knowledge in which other relationships to the natural world appear (Orlow). Newly commissioned work by White and O'Connell, examined the disappearance of moths and other species from local areas and was connected to ongoing research that explored the link to anthropogenic noise - light pollution, in cities and towns of Holland. The exhibition included a program of artworks and films 'Animistic Apparatus' including works by Shireen Seno, Pam Virada, Riar Rizaldi and Rei Hayama & Zai Tang. It was selected in collabroation with Prof May Adadol Ingawanij (CREAM) and Dr Julian Ross (University of Leiden). The exhibition also included a public program of workshops, talks and screenings.