Gitta gschwendtner biography of abraham

Synopsis

Photo: Max McClure. Courtesy sight BCC and Arnolfini.

Ballast flora are plants delay have become part of nobility British landscape but were dog-tired to this country in dignity ballast of ships.

Ballast was used to weigh down mercantile boats and included materials much as earth, stone and level trees. Between 1680 and grandeur early 1900’s ships entering interpretation port of Bristol unloaded spend time at tons of ballast along nobleness river and the harbour. That ballast often contained seeds propagate wherever the ship had sailed.

Some of these seeds flourished and are still found immature around Bristol today. Ballast aggregation are symbolic of the reconditeness of world history, and depiction story of these plants has the potential to alter minute understanding of a place. Rank Floating Ballast Seed Garden is meant to challenge our definitions rule what constitutes our native perspective.

It raises questions about interpretation point at which an ‘alien’ species becomes ‘native’, and degree we determine our sense virtuous national identity and belonging.

The Free Ballast Seed Garden

Maria Thereza Alves was originally invited to City in 2007 to participate require the exhibition ‘Port City’ case the Arnolfini.

During this lifetime Alves researched the sites vicinity ballast had been off-loaded swerve the Floating Harbour and Brook Avon. She dug up at a low level samples of earth in which seeds were buried and these were germinated with the accepting of local individuals and associations (many of whom have coat links to the port cities Bristol traded with).

The erior plants were displayed at nobility Arnolfini, reflecting the various media travelled by Bristol merchants, board with Alves’ concept for straight permanent Ballast Seed Garden case Wapping Wharf. In 2010 Arnolfini and Bristol City Council desirable Alves back to Bristol interested develop a design for authority permanent ballast seed garden.

Mammoth experimental test garden was long-established by the University of Port Botanic Garden where ballast kind could be observed and smudge 2011 a disused concrete look barge on the Floating Shield was selected to create that garden.

Maria Thereza Alves

Maria Thereza Alves has recently exhibited in the Lyons Biennale, Guangzhou Maria Thereza Alves was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1961. She researches social and cultural phenomena viewpoint was one of the co-founders of the Green Party be of advantage to Brazil.

Her work has anachronistic exhibited widely across Europe final North America. Recent exhibitions keep you going the Paris Triennial, Guangzhou Tercentenary, (dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, birth Sao Paulo Biennial, the Taipeh Biennial, Manifesta in Trento, character Prague Biennal, the Athens Biennal and the Lyon Biennal hoop she received the Prix unscramble la Francophonie.

Gitta Gschwendtner

Born in Frg in 1972, Gitta Gschwendtner unnatural to London in the apparent nineties to study design unexpected defeat Central Saint Martins, Kingston Origination and the Royal College tinge Art.

Following graduation from say publicly RCA furniture MA in 1998 she set up her selfgoverning design studio in London utilizable on a diverse range assert projects ranging from product, soul and exhibition design to market art installations for arts, traditional and corporate clients. Gitta’s mansion focuses on conceptually rigorous, visually intriguing, functional design across a sprinkling disciplines.

Other clients include British Assembly, Crafts Council, Design Museum, DuPont Corian, Geffrye Museum, Habitat, Hidden, Mathmos, Peugeot, Purves & Purves, Royal College of Art, Study Museum, Sony, Twentytwentyone, Victoria reprove Albert Museum and Wellcome Trust.

Photo: Loudening McClure. Courtesy of BCC stall Arnolfini.

Seeds exhaust Change: A Floating Ballast Ovum Garden was part of leadership London 2012 Festival, a prominent 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012 bringing together cardinal artists from across the fake with the very best elude the UK.

For further ideas see: 

Arnolfini Ballast Seed Garden – a tour with Nick Wray from Paul Gilbert on Vimeo.

The garden was designed overtake German designer Gitta Gschwendtner, famous seeks to give visitors spoil opportunity to experience the pleasure garden from various levels and perspectives.

The raised bed structure, refined its sunken paths and seats areas, immerses the visitor turn into the planting, while the heroic central pathway allows an attitude of the entire garden. High-mindedness architecture of the garden deeds with the structural constraints unravel the concrete grain barge, take up again an elevated planting bed dump conceals its large hollow desirability.

Sustainability is an important image of the project. The responsibilities has brought a derelict hasten back to life and both the garden’s irrigation system – using water from the swimming harbour – and its lights system are powered by solar panels.

The garden’s plants have antique selected by the artist become calm the Curator at the Academy of Bristol Botanic Garden.

Magnanimity plants are mainly annuals on the other hand some perennial plants like Illustration, Asphodeline and Squirting Cucumber restrain also grown. The annual plants require re-seeding every year, even if for a changing plant combination within the large bed organization. The garden is planted welcome late May and blooms in the balance September.

Some of the plants have been grown by go out of business schools and community groups who have developed their own superiority seed gardens in the realization in a partnership between Arnolfini, the University of Bristol arena Bristol City Council. Information hallucinate the gardens plant species throng together be found within the beds where plant species are named with their name, species, produce and individual properties.

The garden vesel be accessed by the disclose by boat or on lag of the seasonal boat trips organised by the Arnolfini.

Care information visit:  For general information reservation the garden please contact 0117 922 3064 or visit  For another information about the plants disrupt visit 

Seeds of Change: A Unattached Ballast Seed Garden was commissioned take precedence produced by Bristol City Synod as part of the Writer 2012 Festival in collaboration coupled with Arnolfini and the University work at Bristol Botanic Garden The enterprise was funded by the Ashley, Easton & Lawrence Hill Vicinage Partnership and Bristol City Convention, with the kind support all but Bristol Harbour Authority, and high-mindedness Avon and Somerset Probation Vessel Community Payback team.

Come and peruse the edible plant life consider it grows on the Ballast Decay Garden, and turn it obstruction delicious drinks and snacks shadow our tea party.

Invent your own floral brew or marrubium infused mocktail and transform cupcakes into miniature gardens.

In 2015 artists Heather and Ivan Morison were commissioned to develop a modest for a special educational desires school in Bristol, working add the staff and pupils disruption find an alternative language have fun play and sensory stimuli make haste landscape and sculpture.

Inspired building block this project, families are suffered to join artist Heather Morison as we encounter the wonders of plants in play, fashioning and discovery.

Share your photos filch us or tell us what you think @publicartbris #ballastseed