Abracadabra herbaria: Mythmaking through collective drawing
Publication information:
Abstract
Ecospiritual worldviews that emerge from land-based knowledge systems often draw on plants as mediators of spiritual meaning and rituals. This one-hour, hand-on workshop uses the Surrealist drawing technique of the Exquisite Corpse (from French cadavre exquis) to engage with mythmaking and plant spirituality. Participants will create mythical plants informed by their embodied experiences, knowledge, and imagination of this vegetal world. Together, these drawings will form a shared visual herbarium where multiple beliefs and ways of knowing coexist.
Presenter Biographies
Originally from Hong Kong, Anson is a landscape designer based in Los Angeles. He holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard. His work spans complex projects across scales, from public spaces to urban design frameworks. His research explores the cultural histories of plants.
Michelle is an architectural and landscape designer and a recent graduate from the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Originally from Canada, her work explores how land-based practices and traditional ecological knowledge shape relational forms of spatial design.