photograph 6 rice bags with Jerusalem Artichokes, watering can, permanent marker
on wood with 21 regional designations for Jerusalem artichokes written on them – buttons to take away
Ulrike Solbrig was at the forefront of the relatively recent and now
flourishing movement in Berlin and Germany when as a member of a like-minded group, she
helped establish one of the first community gardens in Berlin-Kreuzberg,
Bunte Beete, that was built in 2004.
The common space in our community garden is the only area fenced in. We found this fence already erected soon after we had agreed to establish the garden. The official responsible for green area management gave orders to create this. This is how she implemented her vision of how a plot should look. We now use this as our common space. We call it "Plant Prison".
This photo on top shows the Plant Prison with Jerusalem Artichokes that are favorite plants for so called "guerilla gardeners", because of the rapidity of their growth... Their roots and leaves are edible and they reach the impressive size of 3.5 meters in length.
In her installation, on the one hand, she recycles and re-imports information concerning the organization of gardens - especially community gardens - from the garden sphere into the domains of art and everyday life - translating them into tangible, readily recognizable signs, deciphered, communicated and utilized, while on the other hand, makes practical use of the art space itself, turning it into a place for food cultivation - while again reminding us by the confrontation with these plants of the surprising aesthetic pleasures that their mere visual presence brings." Alan Marsik
Image on the bottom: The establishment of community gardens is a relatively new movement in Berlin. The term "Horticultural Areas as Semipublic Parks" was created when our community garden in Berlin-Kreuzberg had to come up with a way to describe itself when drafting a contract for the Senate of Berlin. Buttons with excerpts from the contract between the city of Berlin and the garden Bunte Beete in different languages, as take away gift (5,9 cm., lmtd. ed.).
Exhibited at Freies Museum Berlin, 2010 at TOKYO+BERLIN Communication-Art, produced by KUNSTFAKTOR and Artmama Tokyo, supported by Japanfoundation, Nomura Foundation, POLA ART FOUNDATION
Ulrike Solbrig, Germany: Chausseestr. 110-I, 10115 Berlin, tel.: +49 1557 43 5656 3 ulrike@solbrig.de