Wendy McMurdo published new work in EXIT #98 FLORA: NATURAL VS. ARTIFICIAL

McMurdo, Wendy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8568-9641 (2025) Wendy McMurdo published new work in EXIT #98 FLORA: NATURAL VS. ARTIFICIAL. EXIT, 98 (98). pp. 82-88. ISSN ISSN: 1577-272-1

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Abstract / Summary

In times of environmental crisis, plastic proliferation and the mass extinction of plants and animal species, EXIT #98 proposes an approach that goes beyond the artistic and aesthetic, to explore a phenomenon that is both domestic and widespread: the current proliferation of artificial reproductions of global flora, and how this also affects photographic representation, both in terms of scientific botanical photography and in the recreation of nature and everyday life in Western societies. The ontological implications of this substitution of the natural with the artificial are brilliantly articulated by philosopher Michael Marder, a leading voice in a new movement advocating for the inclusion of the study of how plants communicate with their environment within the broader scope of human philosophy—as a last-ditch attempt to prevent our own extinction. Marder has written an exclusive and powerful essay for EXIT, analyzing the metabolic problems of plastic compared to the natural world, and the effects this will have on our societies unless we achieve a broader understanding and knowledge of plant life.

Toya Legido and Lucía M. Diz, historians of photography, explore the history of botanical photography as an autonomous genre, closely linked to the very origins of photography. They trace how the perception of “plant photography” has evolved in parallel with key aspects of contemporary culture, decade by decade. These essays are accompanied by images from artists spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries, including pioneers such as Anna Atkins and Karl Blossfeldt, as well as contemporary photographers like Joachim Koester, Wolfgang Tillmans, Elspeth Diederix, Olga Cafiero, Kathrin Linkersdorff, Anaïs Tondeur, Dornith Doherty, Rafael Navarro, Cecilia Paredes, Kim Schoen, Alice Pallot, and Alberto Baraya, among others.

The dossiers dedicated to this central theme are authored by six photographers: Paula Anta, with two series that explore opposing poles, the natural and the artificial, in both reality and photography nowa- days; Robert Voit, with his series on antenna trees and his transformation of the landscape; José Ramón Ais, with his work on common, humble, and resilient herbs; Wendy McMurdo, presenting her two most recent series on the symbolic magic of plant life interwoven with the history of thought in her homeland; Vik Muniz, with one of his lesser-known works, his latest botanical series; Michael Wolf, paying homage to Hong Kong, where nature struggles to survive amid concrete; and, Joan Fontcuberta, whose iconic 1982 series Herbarium is juxtaposed with his more recent work De Rerum Natura (2024), created using artificial intelligence.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	D.L.:M-4001-2012. ISSN: 1577-272-1 Ver. digital ISSN-e: 2605-3497
ISSN:	ISSN: 1577-272-1
eISSN:	ISSN-e: 2605-3497
Subjects:	Art History & Theory Creative Art & Design Creative Art & Design > Fine Art Philosophy & Psychology Photography Natural Sciences Sustainability & Environment
Department:	Institute of Photography
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Wendy McMurdo
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2025 12:29
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2025 12:29
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6218

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