Artificial Botany .erbario assoluto is one of the latest iterations of the series of Artificial Botany. First commissioned by the Botanical Garden of Padua, the work features as a starting dataset high-resolution images of archival material from the garden. Comprising the illustrations by Giovanni Marsili, dry herbariums from the end of the 19th century and smoke prints, the work blends these precious testimonies and local heritage into a single work, navigating the multidimensional space of the neural network.

As with every Artificial Botany iteration, the generation of the visuals is inextricably connected to the starting dataset. In this case, we worked with the digitalisation of a huge dataset of illustrations from the library of Giovanni Marsili (1727-1795), prefect of the Botanical Garden of Padua. Marsili was a prominent Italian physician, botanist, and professor. He significantly contributed to the Orto Botanico of Padua by giving life to an extensive book collection, which grew to include over 2,500 pieces from across Europe. A multifaceted figure, one of his principal works in botany is his dried herbarium.

Some of the most interesting botanical pieces from the Garden of Padua include a series of illustrations made with a particular technique called 'smoke printing': the process consisted of exposing a dry plant to the smoke of a candle or oil lamp until it was evenly coated with soot. It was then covered with soft paper and compressed with a stick until it left its own impression on the sheet, creating an image of surprising delicacy and realism. Just like this is a peculiar feature of the Garden’s collection, it also distinguishes the visual elements of our installation: these smoky, shadowy depictions sometimes emerge, leaving their mark on the succession of synthetic botanical records.

Artificial Botany .erbario assoluto was first realised as a three-channel installation as commissioned by the Garden of Padua, which acquired the piece and exhibits it permanently in its recently-renovated spaces. The piece, however, has also been developed in a different edition as an immersive installation for exhibition spaces. It comprises a vertical projection with a 9:32 ratio, a feature it inherited from the original installation in the Botanical Garden. Also featuring a soundtrack accompanying transitions between one shape and another, the simplicity of the setup makes the characteristics of the animations sound loud and clear: in their apparent stillness, the forms follow each other in a continuous process of stimuli and responses, exposing the creativity of natural processes.