Graphic logo, black angular L-shaped form on white background, minimalist geometric design with bold right-angle composition.

Lina Vargas De La Hoz

Wooden suitcase converted into a planted container with herbs and vegetables, placed in an outdoor setting.
Planted suitcase integrated into a garden bed, surrounded by stones and existing vegetation.

Growing Culture is realized as a mobile garden object in public space and was developed specifically for the Foggy Bottom Biennale. The work consists of a planted container shaped like a suitcase, which was placed over several months in the front yards of different houses in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. At each location, the artist engaged directly with the residents of the respective house. Conversations about the origins of the plants intertwined with biographical exchanges between the participants and the artist. The garden thus became a catalyst for encounter, dialogue, and shared care. The garden brings together native, foreign, edible, and ornamental plants. Growth, maintenance, and seasonal change determine the condition of the work, making time visible as a formative factor. Over the course of the project, the object changed location four times and was continuously cared for. Artistic practice and social action intersect: mobility is not only addressed symbolically but enacted through carrying, placing, tending, and passing on the garden. Space emerges through relationship, use, and duration rather than through fixed architectural structures.

Publication details

Type

Social Project / Installation

Year

2012

Materials

Pinewood sealed with shellac, screws, nails, vintage suitcase ornamental corners, handle, locks, wheels, garden container, soil, ornamental and edible plants

Dimentions

65 × 55 × 100 cm