conium maculatum® - tielt, belgium | ®2002 | neon sculpture 166x40cm - courtesy Galerie CD christine de ketelaere - tielt, belgium.
detail from the installation. for this project i unrooted a dozen of conium maculatum, (poison hemlock - a plant that grows plentiful in many public gardens in rome), and illegally imported it into belgium. I replanted them in a public garden in the city of tielt in places that were unknown to the local citizens. visitors to this opendoor art event were challenged to find back where i had hidden the plants and, each time that they came close to one of the sites where the plant had been placed, they would trigger a photocell that would eventually light up a neon sign hanging at the entrance to this public garden. "whirling about as the intellect clears" refers to the effect of poison hemlock to the human brains when accidentally eaten. conium maculatum is well known in history for having been used as a means of execution for notorious figures. socrates met with such a tragic end after being sentenced to death for deceiving the youth into improper bahaviours and misbelieving the existence of gods. |
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