Urpflanze: Goethe’s Archetypal Plant

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These are seed packets that I made as part of an ongoing book arts project in which I am exploring Goethe’s concept of the archetypal or ideal plant. I consider the wild mustard plant to be the ideal plant, because although it is oft considered a weed, it is the genetic ‘parent’ of selectively bred garden members of the Brassica family, such as cabbage, kale, wasabi, watercress, kale, radishes, and so on. I illustrated 15 different manifestations of the wild mustard relatives as they relate to the one comprehensive, imagined ‘ideal’ Brassica, my Urpflanze.

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2 responses to “Urpflanze: Goethe’s Archetypal Plant”

  1. sklundy Avatar
    sklundy

    These are marvellous. Are they availabe for purchase in any form?

  2. Ana Toledo Avatar
    Ana Toledo

    Hola, me gustaría recibir información para poder comprar sus bonitas láminas de los dibujos de Goethe.
    Gracias.

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