Malus D-Domestica (picnic edition)
by Katrin Petroschkat & Susanne Schmitt with guest artists Raquel Ro and Mariana Renthel
Apples seem peaceful and are ubiquitous, but do you know them well? When you meet an apple tree, you meet a tree that dwells at the border of domestication – going their own way and multiplying into all kinds of shades, sizes, smells and tastes – or even back to their wild apple roots if left to their own devices. Yet they are often stabilized into just a few breeds through ongoing human efforts. Are they biofacts, treats, escaping or seeking cultivation?
Artistic duo Katrin Petroschkat, PhD (Munich/Linz) and Dr. Susanne Schmitt (Munich/Berlin) offer you a fresh mode of tree appreciation at your pace and in the company of your favorite apple trees: a playful mode of picnicking as a way of temporary root taking. Since picnicking often implies a larger group of people, a less than ideal proposition during pandemic times, we offer a set of immaterial and printable items for a picnic under a tree, that at the same time point out the complex ways in which apples and humans have evolved, travelled and settled together. New props for your picnic-centred explorations will be uploaded throughout the festival.
Props for picnic-centred explorations
Please come back to this page during the Festival for fresh props. You can print and cut them out (thus getting to hold traces of trees in your hands) or otherwise be inspired by them. There will be six published through the Festival.
Trees carrying edible fruit are to be found almost everywhere.
Some resources on where to spot fruit trees in your area can be found here:
https://endlessorchard.com
www.mundraub.org
https://www.fruitmap.org/
https://fallingfruit.org/
https://insteading.com/blog/forage-the-urban-bounty-11-crowdsourced-maps-of-edible-plants/
Contributors
Dr. Susanne Schmitt is an anthropologist, artist and facilitator based in Berlin. Her work focuses on Natural History Museums, Botanical Gardens, archives, and other sites where living beings are tied together through human storytelling. www.susanneschmitt.org
Katrin Petroschkat PhD is an artist and researcher based in Munich and Linz. Her research-based practice addresses shifting forms of engagement with media, material and more-than-human worlds. www.katpetroschkat.net
Raquel Ro is an artist from Barcelona based in Munich. She is founder of the printing workshop dreiUNdreizig and initiator and collaborator of a whole range of art projects including The Magdalena Project, Tender Hotel and many others. https://cargocollective.com/RaquelRO/Raquel-Ro
http://dreiundreizig.tumblr.com
Mariana Renthel is an artist and art professor from Argentina now living and working in Medellìn Colombia working on various vectors.
Please come back to this page and the UTFs social media accounts regularly during the festival for fresh props. You can print and cut them out (thus getting to hold traces of trees in your hands) or otherwise be inspired by them.
If you’ve enjoyed these activities, please consider making a donation
Donations are essential to running the Urban Tree Festival and you can find out why here.