To want to be what you are | 2018 |

Performed at Chisenhale Art Place (curated by Lucy Cowling), and Tetterode & WGKunst, Amsterdam (curated by Marianne Theunissen)


| Excerpt from publication by Lucy Cowling | Click here for full publication |

…The corporate logic of being the biggest and most effective is what drives the masterclass session led by Anna Frijstein for life/forms 1.0. Here it is not the working (wo)men that learn tricks of their trade, but another slightly illusive life form; orchids. A firm favourite in corporate gift-giving and on office reception desks or hotel lobbies, orchids and business go hand in hand. Just as “an economic curve is not an innocent smile, an orchid is not an innocent plant”.7 Orchids utilise a range of deception strategies to seduce their pollinators. They can mimic the appearance and form of female insects or emit the fragrance of other flowers. Some types bloom with blotchy patterns to mimic the anthers and pollen of plants that attract nectar-loving insects, offering them no nectar but attaching their pollen onto them nonetheless.8 The masterclass sessions give tips and tricks for orchids that want to improve their seduction and mimicry skills. Whiteboards with statistical data on the progress and position of participating orchids present a visual representation of how tracked personal data is transformed into effective production and consumption. For human-sized visitors the sessions are an opportunity to recognise how being seduced and deceived on a daily basis is normalised, charted and even championed behind closed doors…