Rescued Rhododendron Abducted
Here is a particularly curious instance of one artist appropriating the actual work of another artist and including it in his or her own work. As reported in the Journal of Curatorial Studies by Alana Kushnir, this action involves Simon Starling’s work, “Rescued Rhododendrons” (2000) that elicits the itinerant history of a particular rhododendron that Simon Starling introduced to a park in Spain. Why does the word ‘rescue’ apply to this plant? Starling reversed the historical trajectory of the plant by returning it to its original site.
The plant was imported from the south of Spain to the north of Scotland in the mid-18th century where it is now considered a weed. Starling learned that the rhododendrons were to be uprooted and destroyed so that they would not alter the original heathland ecosystem. Starling counteracted this plan. He loaded the plants into his red Volvo 240 Estate to return them to their original homeland.
The narrative of the rhododendron was extended in a work entitled “You don’t bring me flowers any more” (2009) by Roisin Byrne. She dug up a rhododendron plant from Simon Starling’s installation and smuggled it into the United States. When she exhibited the plant it was accompanied by flight information and other documents of the journey.
The plant did not become more or less beautiful in the process. Indeed, its form was irrelevant because this artwork which focuses on context, meaning, and interpretation. As in his other works, Starling selects objects and either reconstructs or transports them to different contexts, he demonstrates the deviations from their original conditions. Thus, instead of introducing something new, this avant-garde art practice focuses on the continuation of history and its variations.