Specularium, 2025
Photo SeriesIn collaboration with Juha Solantie, Paratiisin Hedelmät
With peach varieties being under threat due to the warming climate, hailstorms and lack of water, Specularium delves deeper into what it takes to relocate the production of the peach to the Northern hemisphere. The differing local characteristics of weather and soil make it extremely hard to duplicate a production process across territories, and gathering the knowledge to produce fruit locally takes a long time. The underlying thought of Specularium is how to move knowledge over time and space.
Specularium is a collaborative gesture by Myriam Gras and Juha Solantie, who has been successfully experimenting with growing stone fruits in the Helsinki region over the last 20 years through his project, Paratiisin Hedelmät. Showcased are the first photos of four young trees of various peach varieties planted in Juha’s garden. This is the beginning of a photo series in which the development of each tree will be documented on a monthly basis. The series registers their growth, the impact of the climate and seasonal changes, and processes such as the pruning of the tree. The documentation continues as long as the tree is growing in Juha’s garden.
The title refers to the roman-latin word ‘specularium’, meaning: the capacity of a surface material to be simultaneously transparent and reflective. This is the name given to the 1st greenhouse ca. 30 CE at Villa Jovis in Capri (IT). The word also refers to the act of speculation. This work approaches speculation as a powerful logic of contemporary life – of which art and finance are the most important examples – and will explore artistic, economic, and philosophical aspects, with excursions into literature and science. Both are based on the power of contingency, temporality, and experimentation in creating — and capitalizing on — possible worlds. In this context, both the work of the cultivator and that of the artist are seen as speculative acts and exemplars of creativity.
Exhibition view THE PRICE OF BLOOMCurated by Micol Curatolo
- Socnyj peach tree, planted in 2022. 21x30 cm, digital print
- Saturn peach tree, planted in 2024. 21x30 cm, digital print
- Velvet peach tree, planted in 2024. 21x30 cm, digital print
- Red Haven peach tree, planted in 2024. 21x30 cm, digital print