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THE TRADE OF PRECIOUS BIO_ORE_NAMENT
The Spanish empire, once could dream of building a silver bridge from Potosi to Spain, with the ore they extracted from Bolivian land. This same landscape which once was roaring with explosives, and mining trucks the size of buildings, is reimagined as a glorious garden landscape, of fertility, rather than toxicity. The coveted wealth that is buried in the gardens, is hidden under a living layer that speaks for the potential richness, waiting to be traded. A layer of metal sensing flower specimen(indicator flowers), carefully engineered and planted, to act as the price fix algorithms of the metals to be traded. Mining and extraction made redundant. Physical accessibility of precious metals made redundant. All that is traded, is an idea of wealth, quantified by the flowers, encrypted into their flesh as they live their short lives feeding on the metals their roots can reach.
In the 21st century, 70% of all precious metals mined are used solely for investment purposes; buried straight back into a hole underground, into the world’s trusted bullion vaults. But what if the world could come to a consensus on the quantities of metals left uncovered in the natural reserves, without having to destroy all these extraordinary pregnant landscapes?
The new floral economy imagined, is of pomp, ceremony and extravagance. Just as culturally constructed and synthetic as the precious metals trade it is replacing today; transforming the mine and the vault into occupiable space. Questioning the meaning of value instilled onto physical matter, versus the value of an experienceable and spatial landscape.
More on this project can be found on www.larabehmoaram.com
