Catalyst 2024: Follies: A Botanical Backstory
Conceived and directed by the 2024 Catalyst artist duo Processional Arts, Follies: A Botanical Backstory was unlike any other Catalyst program we have done before! The culminating performance, presented after a week of artist led workshops, was the product of Processional Arts coming together with the Planting Fields community to celebrate the artistic and horticultural legacy of this historic site. Thank you to all the workshop volunteers, performers, and spectators for making this such a special experience!
More about the creation of Follies: A Botanical Backstory:
The history of the horticultural collection at Planting Fields is rich and varied. Each plant here has its own story to tell. Processional Arts recognized this and asked, how can we celebrate the horticultural history of Planting Fields in a way that has not been done before? Inspired by the glass greenhouses on site and the stained glass of Coe Hall, Processional Arts conceptualized Follies. An architectural folly is a structure that does not serve an express purpose but is instead an aesthetic element in a landscape. One might argue that Coe Hall itself is a folly; an English manor house built on Long Island, made to look much older than it really is. The artists took this concept and translated it into human-powered kinetic sculptures, follies that mysteriously assembled and drifted apart as they moved through the gardens in performance.
An arched folly surrounds visitors during the performance, photograph by Corinne Tousey.
The botanical backstories of the plants at Planting Fields can be found within these structures, on decorative faux stained-glass panels. For example, the Prickly Pear cacti that can be found in the Main Greenhouse is the only plant that is host to cochineal insects. These insects are the source of a natural red dye called carmine, which was historically used to dye the red robes of Catholic cardinals and British soldiers. The Prickly Pear cactus is also featured prominently on the flag of Mexico and is an important part of the founding legend of Mexico City. Aztec legend says that the gods told the Aztec people that they would find the perfect place to build their city when they saw an eagle on a pricky cactus, eating a serpent, as pictured in the middle panel below. You can learn more about the use of this red dye and its cultural impact from the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.
Faux stained-glass panels depicting the cultural and historical impacts of the Prickly Pear cactus, photographs by Corinne Tousey.
Nearly all of the plants in the collection here have backstories like this, and wide-reaching impacts in areas such as politics and trade, medicine and science, and ritual and mythology. These panels in the follies explore these histories and invite viewers to enjoy their favorite plants through a new lens. We hope that you enjoyed the performance, and that you feel inspired to learn more about the botanical backstories of Planting Fields.
Click here to learn more and see photographs of this spectacular performance!About Processional Arts
Processional Arts, led by Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, works with communities to create site-specific, human-powered, art parades, and Carnivalesque happenings. Engaging volunteers at every stage of production, these collaborative works evoke unique local narratives and visual cultures through pageant puppetry, illuminations, ceremonial architecture, and masking/costuming. Since 1998, performances by Processional Arts have led NY’s Village Halloween Parade and appeared at the High Line, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Miami’s Vizcaya Museum, and the Obama White House. Outside of traditional venues, they have engaged communities ranging from the streets of Kyiv to the South Bronx, from the Italian Alps to the Texas bayous.
About Catalyst
About Catalyst
Every year since 2020, Planting Fields Foundation has commissioned artists to create site-specific art within the 409-acres of Planting Fields. We launched Catalyst to continue the legacy of artistic patronage the Coe family brought to Planting Fields over a century ago by inviting leading artists of their time to create work for the site. Through Catalyst, we challenge and expand our relationships with history as we explore this site from different points of view.
Catalyst 2024: Follies: A Botanical Backstory was made possible by a generous grant from the Estate of KK Auchincloss.