Guerrilla Science aims to create highly visible artistic installations that convey a scientific or technological research concept, in a way that invites the viewer to think about science in a very different way. The location of the Guerrilla Science installations in both time and place is designed to catch the viewer off-guard, and draw them into participating, appreciating, and learning.
Latch On! does just that. It aims to increase awareness of biodiversity issues through unconventional ceramic street art with the involvement of small local businesses, drawing parallels between the world of plants, art and local economy.
Botanical inspiration for this project came from Irish hemiparasitic plants. Roots of hemi-parasites latch on to roots of other plants to steal nutrients through specialised organs called haustoria. Microscopic images of haustoria were transferred onto glazed tiles that were displayed around Galway City and NUI Galway Campus, latching on to different structures. Galwegians were sent on a 'treasure hunt' looking for the pieces. Some of the tiles were installed permanently in Henry Street while others temporarily wrapped around lamp posts and stuck to grey wall corners leading people to an interactive display presented at NUI Galway on the last day of the fair. Local businesses volunteered to display clusters of our work during the week of the fair, bringing science to pubs, cafes and shops.
Latch On! inspiration with parasitic plants does not simply end at the phenomenon of attaching to hosts but also explores its consequences. By robbing dominant meadow species, parasitic plants can reduce their growth and allow smaller plants to survive in a grassland ecosystem. As a result, they can increase species diversity (read more here). However, they are not welcome in manicured, intensively farmed silage grasslands where they are considered to be weeds. Likewise, street art is often seen as a blemish on manicured city landscapes and its potential to break up monotony and increase urban artistic diversity is often ignored. Similarly to delicate plants being smothered by intensive farming and artistic creativity being excluded from streets as a result of stereotypes, small companies that contribute to economic diversity are often forced out of business by their larger competitors.
In Latch On! We juxtaposed intensively managed grassland monocultures, prejudice against street art and dominance of large businesses in economic landscapes to highlight the common negative consequence: loss of diversity. We created a bold ceramic installation that provokes questions about the effects of standardisation in different areas of life.
The project was generally welcomed and encouraged questions from the public. Hemiparasitic plants had almost certainly never received so much publicity before !
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