Platanus gossipium

Platanus Gossipium, 2021

A series of paired or overlaid, toned, gelatin silver films recording the shadows of muslin cloth and Plane tree leaves, made without a camera. Each film is encapsulated in a Mylar envelope. Displayed backlit. Unique objects

Cultivated for its cooling shade and sentinel beauty in cities worldwide, the Plane tree, Platanus acerifolia, thrives in polluted air by shedding its contaminated bark. Collected from a suburban Melbourne planting, these autumn-shed Plane tree leaves were placed on photographic film and exposed to light without a camera. The cloth images were created using a similar method by arranging muslin fabric on the films and exposing it to artificial light. Most of the resulting negatives were inverted into the positives you see through use of an old, early twentieth-century chemical technique. The juxtaposition of dessicated Plane tree leaves and cloth made from bolls of the cotton plant, varieties of Gossypium species, points to our dependence on plants for comfort and sustenance, and our interdependence more generally, with the entire non human realm.