The seeds for this unique artwork were planted in Autumn, and now the work has sprouted and blossomed over the winter months, ready for both the ‘human’ public and pollinating species - including bees, moths, beetles, and wasps - to engage with and enjoy.
The unique artwork - made from 7000 plants, from 64 species - seeks to challenge what a garden is and who it is for. The ambition is that Pollinator Pathmaker is a global campaign, as well as an artwork, to make art for pollinators, planted and cared for by humans. There has been a dramatic decline in pollinating insects in the last 40 years due to habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species, and climate change and the artwork is a call to take action against this. The loss of a single species of pollinator can mean the end of a plant species.
Further public Pollinator Pathmaker gardens will be planted this year in other locations globally - with the Serpentine in London this spring, an Edition Garden commissioner, and with LAS (Light Art Space) Berlin, who are the International Edition Founding Commissioner. Meanwhile, anyone in Northern Europe can now plant their own garden at home; in a window box, in a garden, with their community, school or friends. You too can be part of Pollinator Pathmaker by creating a garden plan at pollinator.art, supported by the Google Arts and Culture Lab. The website uses a special algorithm where plants ‘empathetic’ to pollinating insects from bees to butterflies to moths and wasps are suggested in a unique design plan generated for each gardener’s plot size and garden conditions. Every garden planted – from backyard to windowsill to country field – is also then part of the living artwork designed and tended with empathy for pollinators, not humans.
**Members of the media are invited to Eden Project on May 26 for a launch event to inaugurate the artwork. Press tours from London to see this very special unveiling will take place on 26 May**
“ I am excited to reveal the first Pollinator Pathmaker garden this spring at Eden Project and to invite everyone to get involved with the project by visiting, or by creating their own gardens. I hope that for new gardeners, it’s a fun way to get started, and for the green fingered, it’s a challenge to think about how and what we plant, and who a garden is for. Pollinator Pathmaker is all about encouraging empathy and giving agency as we face the environmental crisis together." says Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg
The world-famous Biomes at the Eden Project are fronted by 11.5 hectares (28 acres) of striking contemporary Outdoor Gardens. The Pollinator Pathmaker installation sits nestled in the Wild Edge zone, which stretches around the perimeter slopes of the Gardens, visible from across the site. Pollinators see colours differently from us, forage in different ways, and emerge in different seasons to each other. As a result, a garden designed for them may look quite different from a garden designed for us and the site at Eden will be unveiled peppered in unusual colour combinations - unusual to the human eye, at least!
Now is the season and time to get planting your own Pollinator Pathmaker garden as the green fingered will know, in order for it to bloom this Spring.
Using the Pollinator Pathmaker website, anyone can use the artwork’s custom algorithm to generate their unique planting scheme, as a call to action to plant your own pollinator garden. The algorithm will create a design to support the most pollinator species possible from a curated selection of plants chosen for their benefits to a variety of pollinators. Users can see a 3D visualisation of their unique garden bloom on their screen, created from paintings of each plant by Ginsberg, who has carefully researched hundreds of species. The website has been developed by The Workers with visual identity by Studio Frith.
On the website, participants can also watch their digital garden change over the year, as flowers for different pollinators emerge in an animated seasonal view. A soundscape composed by award-winning sound artist Nick Ryan accompanies the work and audiences can explore how a garden might look through the eyes of insects. Some of the plants included on the site include endangered plants such as the towering Echium pininana, which is a rare example of a plant which produces nectar across the whole day. Another included is the Cynara cardunculus, a type of artichoke, which is a valuable source of nectar for bumblebees. The Stachys byzantina meanwhile, is a magnet for wool carder bees in particular.
In line with Ginsberg’s artistic practice, Pollinator Pathmaker uses technology to raise awareness of one of the greatest challenges facing the natural world. The commission also explores the story of the UK’s indigenous pollinators: their vital role, their current plight, and the plans and need for their conservation.
Pollinator Pathmaker has been developed in collaboration with Eden’s expert network of horticulturists, scientists and advisors. This includes the National Wildflower Centre which is based at the Eden Project, Eden’s master beekeeper Rodger Dewhurst and pollination experts including Professor David Goulson and Marc Carlton. Machine-learning expert and string theory physicist, Dr Przemek Witaszczyk of Jagiellonian University, Kraków, worked with Ginsberg to develop the algorithms behind the planting programme.
It is hoped that the work will make a positive change for pollinators. Together, these insects pollinate many of our food crops, help the plants in our gardens and countryside to reproduce and flourish, and are a vital part of our ecosystems. While the dangers facing honeybees are widely publicised, they are not the only pollinators. In the UK for instance, over 250 species of bee including 24 species of UK bumblebee, one native honey bee species and many species of solitary bee play a crucial role in pollination, alongside flies, beetles, wasps, moths and butterflies.
For Pollinator Pathmaker, Ginsberg was inspired by Eden’s core principles: encouraging a sense of connection, awe and wonder towards our natural world, and above all, giving us hope and agency to help protect it.
Misha Curson, Senior Curator, Eden Project, added, “Combining technology, conservation, horticulture and visual arts, Pollinator Pathmaker will resonate with our visitors on many levels. It is exciting to be able to bring to life a project that offers audiences agency to make a creative and environmentally-positive contribution, creating their own gardens across a wide range of landscapes and climates.”
The Pollinator Pathmaker project is part of “Create a Buzz”, a three-year programme for the Eden Project funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation. “Create a Buzz” comprises the major art installation, Pollinator Pathmaker, by Ginsberg, a physical and digital pollination trail through Eden Cornwall’s Outdoor Gardens, new plantings of fields of wild flowers and a range of community and education projects. It seeks to communicate the story of the UK’s native pollinators: their vital role, their current plight and their restoration, using art and culture to do so.
Garfield Weston Foundation’s Director, Philippa Charles, added, "The Garfield Weston Foundation supports the arts, community projects, education and conservation work and were delighted to support the “Create a Buzz” programme at the Eden Project which spans these themes. We aim to support charities delivering great work across the UK. Pollinator Pathmaker, part of the Create a Buzz programme, is one of a kind – a digital artwork painted onto the landscape with plants. Our trustees are actively involved and highly engaged in the work of the Foundation. Sophia Weston, Executive Trustee was one of the panelists who helped to select Ginsberg to deliver the commission. The Garfield Weston Foundation are action oriented, and support activity that makes a tangible difference.
“The Pollinator Pathmaker website, and campaign to encourage people to plant DIY editions in their own gardens and communities, is a wonderful exploration in creating a climate positive artwork that supports our pollinators, environment and communities across the UK"
Sir Tim Smit, Co-founder of the Eden Project, added, “One of the deepest pleasures there is, is to be given the opportunity to commission someone you hugely admire to create something that you know in advance is going to give such great pleasure and insight to so many people. Daisy’s huge talent is to be an artist that understands narrative, aesthetics, science and impact. We look forward to welcoming audiences to see the work in bloom this spring and summer.”
Additional partners for this project include Gaia Art Foundation and collaborators Google Arts & Culture.
Ginsberg was chosen by an esteemed panel to deliver the commission. The panel members who chose the artist included: Jolyon Brewis – Partner, Grimshaw; Libita Clayton – Artist; Candida Gertler OBE – Co-Founder, Outset Contemporary Art Fund; Clare Lilley – Director of Programme, Yorkshire Sculpture Park & Curator, Frieze Sculpture; Sir Tim Smit KBE – Co-founder of the Eden Project, Executive Vice-Chair, Eden Project Ltd & Executive Co-chair, Eden Project International Ltd and Sophia Weston – Executive Trustee, Garfield Weston Foundation.
