The work in the exhibition is an excerpt from a larger project that Moreno realized in early 2016 and presented at the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid as part of PhotoEspaña. The exhibition features a series of unique photographs printed on gessoed burlap, as well as several large-scale inkjet prints, all of which are images of 19th century botanical models. “Art Forms in Mechanism” is a text- and image-based
investigation that explores how modernity has produced systems of knowledge by decontextualizing the objects that serve to illuminate that knowledge. Moreno engages the relationships between the industrial serialization and the fragility of the natural world. With a background in conservation and an intense focus on materiality, Moreno strives to re-contextualize objects initially designed for industrial, scientific, or artistic realms.
“Art Forms in Mechanism” began when Moreno discovered a collection of 19th century botanical models while researching at the Cabinet of Scientific Curiosities, a...Spanish historical archive. Manufactured by a European company that specialized in scientific equipment, the models are made of papier-mâché, gears, clips, hooks, and printed numbers and labels, and they were designed for hands on, practical use. Moreno was initially attracted to the models because, as she notes, “they contained the tension between the industrial and the humanity/fragility that I often research in my work. On the one hand, they were machines, with all their gears, on the other hand, even if they were supposed to be neutral scientific objects, they were absolutely pictorial and subjective.”
In photographing the models, Moreno adopts the style of the nature photography of German artist and educator Karl Blossfeldt, which was first published in his landmark 1928 publication of botanical photographs, “Art Forms in Nature.” Blossfeldt’s photographs were innovative in the field of scientific photography because of the leap forward they provided in magnification and detail. These images ultimately served as important sources of inspiration for the scientific community and artists alike.
Entrada actualizada el el 10 jul de 2020
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