Azuma Makoto, a 38-year-old artist based in Tokyo, focuses on elevating the value of flowers and plants by finding unique and mysterious forms within them. Respecting the existence of nature and enhancing its dignity, he transforms and combines botanical elements to the aesthetic level of artwork.
For his latest work, the Exobiotanica project, the artist sent two pieces of botanical matter into the stratosphere: “Shiki 1,” a Japanese white pine bonsai suspended from a metal frame, and an “Untitled” arrangement of flower blossoms, were launched on July 15 in Black Rock Desert, Nevada, the site of the famous annual Burning Man festival.
“I wanted to see the movement and beauty of plants and flowers suspended in space,” Makoto explained that morning.
The expedition started in the dead of night, at 2 a.m. One hour later, Makoto was already building his bouquet with about 30 varieties of flowers. He started with an aerial plant tied to a six-rod axis and studiously added peace lilies, poppy seed pods, dahlias, hydrangeas, orchids, bromeliads and a meaty burgundy heliconia. “I am using brightly colored flowers from around the world so that they contrast against the darkness of space,” he said. Makoto worked quietly, until the metal rods were covered completely with plants.
For “Shiki 1,” Makoto chose a 50-year-old pine from his collection of more than 100 specimens, and flew it over from Tokyo in a special box. While readying it for space, he kept it moist and removed a few brown needles with a tweezer.
The recording devices made it back to Earth, but the bonsai and bouquet were never found—I wonder if there was someone up there to receive them?
