A key objective of PLT is to raise awareness of the decline in pollinators and to connect with others motivated to make a positive change for pollinators, human health and wellbeing, and the environment.
To help spread our message PLT created an exhibition to display its key messages, first sponsored in an exhibition in Cannon Place, sponsored by CMS. The exhibit is designed to connect with green space managers, corporate sustainability leads, ESG professionals, and corporate and school education managers to explore collaboration possibilities. The exhibit also features the artwork of artist Alex Hirtzel.
The exhibition comprised:
- ⁃ PLT A0 and A1 information display boards
- ⁃ PLT banners
- ⁃ Interactive augmented reality artwork by Alex Hirtzel www.alexhirtzel.com
- ⁃ Beetrice Bee sculpture by Alex Hirtzel (on display in Mansion House 2019 – 2021)
The exhibit is available for display in other locations. For more information about PLT and possibilities to display the exhibit in your building, please contact admin@pollinatinglondontogether.com.
Art by Alex Hirtzel
Alex Hirtzel is a multi-media artist and science communicator. She is delighted to be able to exhibit two of her larger artworks with Pollinating London Together. They both describe how insects and wild plants interact and are part of her ongoing work on different sensory ways ecosystems function together.
For Alex, viewer interaction is incredibly important, and there are multiple ways to interact with the artwork. Firstly, through Instagram using augmented reality, the viewer is invited to move around and within the picture surface. Secondly, using a UV torch, and especially in the dark, the work looks quite different, and finally, the titles refer to a piece of music to listen to whilst looking at the painting.
‘In Paradisum’ imagines a perfect meadow full of flowers and insects. It describes plant dependencies for insects as well as rare and even extinct plants once common in the UK. The work is inspired by Faure’s Requiem, hinting at both the past and potential future.
‘Pastoralists’ breaks down fences between fields to allow free-roaming livestock and the hedgerow to spread and grow. This piece pays close attention to food sources for the lava of many of our most adored butterflies and moths in the UK, particularly the importance of the nettle (Urtica Dioica). The nettle is also a medical plant, along with others found commonly in hedgerows. The title refers to the inner meaning of the word, and the music is Beethoven, No. 6, the ‘Pastoral Symphony.’
Contact Alex via her website www.alexhirtzel.com if you are interested in purchasing one of her pieces, a portion of proceeds will go to Pollinating London Together.
