PRINTS
HARUMI SHIMIZU
『The Plants in the Voynich Manuscript』
Price (tax incl.): S:¥132,000 M:¥242,000
In 1912, an American book dealer Wilfrid Voynich found an old manuscript with peculiar drawings and illegible text in an Italian monastery. 100 years since, this book of which over half are botanical chapters meticulously illustrating plants yet unseen, remains undeciphered. Who decided to draw these fantastic figures and why?
In this series, manipulated pictures of plants mimic those in the book and are placed into scenes of our daily lives. All images look clearly fabricated; impossible combinations of petals, leaves, uncanny roots. Yet, details resembling existing species are noticeable. In this world, seeds slowly transform themselves and are artificially produced everyday. We cannot thus, dismiss the possibility that those imaginary plants can exist someday, somewhere and so, the border between the real and imagined is blurred. In that case, what are the reasons not to believe in this futile imagination.
In 1912, an American book dealer Wilfrid Voynich found an old manuscript with peculiar drawings and illegible text in an Italian monastery. 100 years since, this book of which over half are botanical chapters meticulously illustrating plants yet unseen, remains undeciphered. Who decided to draw these fantastic figures and why?
In this series, manipulated pictures of plants mimic those in the book and are placed into scenes of our daily lives. All images look clearly fabricated; impossible combinations of petals, leaves, uncanny roots. Yet, details resembling existing species are noticeable. In this world, seeds slowly transform themselves and are artificially produced everyday. We cannot thus, dismiss the possibility that those imaginary plants can exist someday, somewhere and so, the border between the real and imagined is blurred. In that case, what are the reasons not to believe in this futile imagination.
- Size : S: 490×320 / M: 820×490mm
- Belong to : IMA gallery
- Year Created : 2019
- Edition : ed.7 / ed.3