FT1401

A speculative hybrid that renders the existing genetic manipulations visible – and tangible – in an obscure, thought-provoking form, the “Monster Flower I” became a monument of the unattainable – however imaginable – qualities we, as consumers, growers, and sellers seek in commodified plants. Working together with geneticists, post-harvesting specialists, engineers and floral artists, we have assembled various, and often contradictory, assumptions about an ideal flower, defining what it takes for the plant to live longer, sustain transportation, or have the most vibrant colour, and abstracted our findings into a super-bloom. The multi-step research and design process entailed assembling real flowers into a sculptural hybrid that was later 3D-scanned and finally 3D-printed in nylon. Questioning the relationship between the natural and the artificial, we realised that our striving for perfection results in monstrous, unnatural effects.