Monument to the Eternal Pursuit of the Ideal
2019
Monument to the Eternal Pursuit of the Ideal examines how power negotiates its relationship to the environment, affect and materials, by looking at the ways in which choices in plants were profoundly informed by dominant political ideologies. The installation examines the history and significance of the red carnation in the Soviet era, investigating how the flower signified Soviet political power. Although the red carnation is strongly associated with the Soviet Union, it has also featured in other contexts as a symbol of revolutionary force including the 1976 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. By focusing on this particular flower as a symbol and material, the installation explores how we can narrate histories of power and political representations.