Azuma MAKOTO
Shiki1 × Power Plant, 2015
Photograph, dimensions vary

Known for sending plants into space in his Exobiotanica series, here Japanese artist Azuma Makoto’s bonsai tree is placed not against the background of the upper atmosphere, but the remains of human industry. Photographed in an abandoned coal-burning power plant in Belgium, this work captures a fascinating interplay between a plant and its surroundings. Decommissioned since 2007, the towering concrete structure is now an almost post-apocalyptic monument to human carbon emissions. The plant/power plant relationship may seem an incompatible match, the tiny tree seemingly swallowed by the building, yet as moss and lichens begin to take over the structure, perhaps it is one that speaks to a future of growth and possibility in the shadow of industry.