Collaboration between species takes many forms. The project entitled ‘White Chlorophyll’ speculates on the symbiotic relationship between weeds and architecture and comes to life in the act of mapping. In this case: exploring and mapping the barren spaces around the city of Amsterdam.

The wastelands are devoid of human presence, yet they abound with human traces. They are domesticated and wild, urban and rural, global and local. They are also a playground where the ancestral entanglement of weeds and humans is on full display. I chose to map Sisymbrium loeselii, a plant related to the mustard family with no particular utility or commercial value.

The domestication of cereals is directly related to our relationship with weeds. Weeds thrive in disturbed lands, such as those in and on the outskirts of cities or along roadsides. They are the red cross of the plant world, healing soil that would otherwise be lost to erosion. Weeds also have medicinal and nutritional properties that are usually overlooked, as well as symbolic value. The term “weed” is an arbitrary category determined by the changing taste of our “food webs”.

#Landscape #Weeds #Architecture #Symbiosis #Herbarium #Mapping #Taxonomy

Chlorophyll turns white when photographed in the infrared range of the light spectrum. Infrared (IR) satellite imagery is used to map and study crops and forests over time.

Multi-species collaboration