If we understand “nature” as the totality of untouched habitats, organisms, and phenomena, it represents the counterpoint to all things, works, spaces, and systems created by humans. The expression “The Nature of Things” simultaneously refers to the constitution and functioning of individual phenomena as well as to fundamental, universal laws. However, if we consider humans as an integral part of nature, we must also acknowledge their intentions, perceptions, emotions, expressions, actions, and inventions as natural. In doing so, the very meaning of the term “nature” becomes relative and could ultimately dissolve.
The series “The Nature of Things” situates itself within the tension of this paradox. For this, the artist duo created photographic works: five perspectives of one and the same scene, reminiscent of a crime scene.
The images evoke associations with forensic documents—as if the nocturnal, flash-lit snapshots were recording a crime. The subject, however, is at once mundane and profound: a meadow. It stands as a symbol of human cultural heritage. The Latin term cultura originally referred to the cultivation and care of the soil; the introduction of agriculture and the domestication of grasses mark a pivotal moment in human history. Can this intervention be regarded as a crime against nature, since it entailed the unforeseen destruction of forests? Or is it rather a cultural achievement, since “untouched” meadows promote biodiversity?
It is a matter of the perspective from which things are viewed. In this process, as many opinions arise as there are people who reflect upon them. Facts thus risk becoming lost in the fog of relativizations. The artist duo addresses this aspect with a spray intervention. The series comprises three observations that subtly differ from one another.
