Monster Flower I

What happens when genetic manipulation replaces natural evolution? Rusak asked growers, retailers, regulators and consumers to describe their ideal flower. Longer vase life, better smell, less bacteria carrying leaves, saturated colour, available year round for all occasions etc. This wish list, though sometimes contradictory, is a small part of all the demands we have for flowers.

Working together with geneticists, post-harvesting specialists, engineers and floral artists, Rusak merged the wish list into a super bloom: Monster Flower. A hybrid creation engineered after extensive research in the Netherlands – hub of floral innovation. Result is a combination of the most ’marketable’, desired but often opposite elements that represent our relationship with the cut flower industry.

Questioning what is natural and what is artificial, reminding us that flowers we once knew, nowadays are often the products of human manipulation. The title refers to the impossibility of such plant excising in this world and in doing so, speaks of another more fruitful one. Looking further into the future of genetics and imagining where this path could lead us, Rusak tried to incorporate all of the requirements that we have for flowers while questioning if this is really what we want them to become.