strata-e

HEMP GARDEN ///

Hemp is perhaps the most controversial crop on this planet. Its stamina, qualities and wide spectrum of potential uses render it extremely valuable but also charge it with a heavy sociopolitical burden. The argument for hemp has long been an ideological one. Henry Ford’s infatuation with the crop was the closest it got to be appropriated hemp by mass production capitalism. Our narrative uses this relationship as a starting point and tries to establish a critical dialogue between the crop and machinic fabrication. The plant is grown from seed to fiber through our ‘linear ecologies’ unit, an assembly line that seeks to grant the grower autonomy on the resources that can be sourced from the plant, on a domestic level. Long bast fibers for the plants are achieved through the harvesting of the natural process of phototropism and the ‘training’ of the plant to grow following a specific trajectory. The assembly line is moved to Valldaura and young, fragile plants call for protection in a rural setting, a process which gives rise to a number of experiments and prototypes. A series of structures that protect the plants from the natural elements is devised, a dynamic architecture of residue and symbiosis between the natural and the synthetic.

A Fabricated Ecology.