Lauren Simeoni & Melinda Young, #putaplantonit (subterranean intervention), 2012/2019, artificial plant foliage, brass, parafilm. Photo: Courtesy of the artists

#putaplantonit

Lauren Simeoni
Melinda Young

7 – 15 September

at 

Weeding around Radiant Pavilion venues

Lauren Simeoni, Sprout Pin, 2018, Brass & artificial plant foliage; dimensions variable. Photo: courtesy of the artist

#putaplantonit sees 100 wearable pins installed in the cracks and crevices of Melbourne’s city streets during Radiant Pavilion. There for the taking, the pins are made using a combination of jewellery and floristry techniques, incorporating fake foliage chosen to resemble the weeds that push tenaciously through the cityscape, a reward for those who care to look beyond the façade. Each pin has a small label inviting further dialogue on Instagram via #putaplantonit and @unnaturalnaturally; an invitation perhaps to join a broader conversation and community of wearers. The fake foliage is reflexive, commenting back on its very existence – why does it exist in all its mimetic intricacy and what compels us to adorn our environment with it at the expense of natural plant-life. It seems the ultimate rejection of the nature it seeks to imitate, and yet, here we are, seeking it as treasure and wearing it on our lapels.

#putaplantonitRP19       @unnaturalnaturally

Lauren Simeoni, Sprout Pins, 2018, Brass & artificial plant foliage; dimensions variable. Photo: courtesy of the artist

(ABOUT THE ARTISTS)
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Lauren Simeoni is an Adelaide based artist working from Gate 8 Workshop collective. Simeoni has a BA in Gold and Silversmithing from Canberra School of Art, ANU which she followed by a Design Associateship at the Jam Factory and a mentorship at Gray Street Workshop in Adelaide. Exhibiting nationally and internationally, including 7 solo exhibitions. Simeoni also teaches and guest lectures at universities, various curated public programs and actively participates on art & design related boards and projects.

Melinda Young has a Master of Visual Arts from Sydney College of the Arts. She has exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally since 1997, her work is held in public collections and included in numerous publications. Melinda’s practice primarily engages with the idea of ‘place’ and explorations of materiality, with an emphasis on found or re-purposed materials as vehicles for narrative explorations of the landscape and its inhabitants. Alongside her making practice, Melinda has spent the past 20 years working as an educator, curator and gallery manager. Melinda is currently an Associate Lecturer at UNSW Art & Design.