12 days to fix Waitemata coastline plants for good

You may not be able to tell by just strolling past them on your way to a Sunday brunch, but plenty of thought and consideration has been invested in selecting the plants that beautify the area of such places as Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter.

Native and local plants have been chosen to be planted in this area for their restorative features, as they are able to act as a filtration system for storm water. Preventing the plants from being contaminated by the effects of the  heavy industry area that Wynyard Quarter has been known for, was also taken into consideration — concrete trenches had to be built to shield the plants’ root systems.

Dieneke Jansen and Jenny Gillam are on the quest to illustrate the scientific preservation efforts and communicate the present ecological moment that we are in with their photographic series, titled Fixed for Good, featuring plants native to the Waitemata coastline, and listed in Auckland Council’s various planting guides.

The saplings will be frozen and shot as though they’re in the clear, even light of a laboratory, bringing to mind the preservation efforts such as plant cryonics and seed banks. However, despite these preservation efforts, the plants that are frozen are unable to draw upon the water frozen around them and will eventually die.

The photographic series that they capture will be reproduced and displayed in a lane that runs behind Sanford Seafood’s ice-making facility in Wynyard Quarter, and will present for viewers the opportunity to think about the ecological moment we’re currently in — remembering what has been lost, while thinking of the future and the struggle to stop further environmental damage.

Jansen and Gillam are currently seeking donations to ensure this project can come to fruition through their Boosted profile, and they’ve only got 12 days left until donations cease to be accepted.

“We’d love it if the project can reach its funding target so that it can go ahead,” Jenny says.

All donations will go towards the printing and display costs, and those who donate will be offered a copy of their co-edited book, An Urban Quest for Chlorophyll.

The duo have previously created a project that holds common themes, which was displayed in Wellington for the City Council’s Courtney Place light boxes back in 2012, called Ever Green.

“We photographed eight native shrubs through glass from two sides, giving the appearance that the plants may be contained in the light boxes. With Fixed for Good we are continuing to explore the planting structures of inner city environments and the control of these plants due to space limitations and maintenance requirements, the preservation of the environment, as well as how photographs operate in an urban context,” says Jenny.

To support the Fixed for Good cause, head over to the Boosted website to read more and make a donation.