260 flowers by 32 contemporary artists, gathered in a richly produced botanical atlas. Selected works unfold beyond the printed page through augmented reality.
The flower is one of art’s oldest subjects—painted, catalogued, collected and imagined across centuries. Neo Botanica asks what it can become in the hands of artists working at the newest edges of image-making.
Taking its visual language from historical florilegia, the book gathers imaginary species, coded organisms and speculative ecologies by 32 leading contemporary artists. Some are works of pure aesthetic invention; others emerge from research into extinction, evolution, datasets and living systems.
The artists work with code, CGI, generative systems, artificial intelligence and 3D modelling. Yet technology is not the subject of the book. It is the instrument through which an ancient image—the flower—is reconsidered.
The result is part botanical atlas, part survey of contemporary digital art and part portable exhibition: a richly produced physical object made for slow looking.
Beyond the printed page
Selected artworks contain an additional augmented-reality layer. Using the free ARIA app, readers can scan the pages and watch the specimens move, grow and transform—allowing the still botanical plate to open into an unexpected animated world.
Featured artists
Refik Anadol, Tatsuru Arai, Luca Bogoni, Andrea Brewster, Andee Collard, Zach Darren Corzine, Mauro Cosenza, Linda Dounia, Stephan Duq, Elekktronaut, Entangled Others, Katherine Frazer, fuse*, Generative Art Studio, Hannes Hummel, Hypereikon, Joann, Markos Kay, Ryoichi Kurokawa, Jim Linear, David Lisser, Phenomena Labs, Andréa Philippon, Andrés Reisinger, Anna Ridler, Monica Rizzolli, Nat Sarkissian, Drake Smith, Leonardo Solaas, Spacefiller, Ivona Tau and Aurèce Vettier.
Book details
Edited by Luca Bendandi and Freya Marshall 240 pages 20 × 26 cm Hardcover with gold-foil detailing English Augmented-reality content accessible through the free ARIA app ISBN 978-3-9826086-2-4 Published by Vetro Editions
Press reviews:
"If you know someone who is interested in speculative nature, permacomputing, biomimicry, or even just loves gardening, this book is a slightly off-beat, artistic and visually stunning choice." - BLOG by LAN Party
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