Collective Action by Adrien Missika: Unkrautpflege

On the special day of the 12.06.2021 everyone on planet earth is invited to go out on the streets and water the weeds following Adrien Missika’s instruction piece Unkrautpflege:

Take a watering can (or any container)
Fill it with water
Go out on the street
Walk down one way
Water all thirsty weeds
Refill water wherever you can
Go on until tired or hungry

As a collective action everyone is invited to share a picture or video of them watering weeds on social media under #reconnectingearth and #weedcare and help raise awareness for the usually rather disregarded urban landscape pioneer plants.

The artist will activate the syncronized participative action with the gardeners of Kleingarten Habsburg-Gaußstraße and the public during the opening of the exhibition (re)connecting.earth at 3 pm at Gaußstraße 14, 10589 Berlin.

The exhibition (re)connecting.earth curated by Bernard Vienat focuses on the restoration of an affective relationship with non-human life forms and an increasing attention to urban nature. The action planned by Missika aims to collectively change our perspective on the city‘s biodiversity. It is based on his ongoing project “Unkrautpflege” (engl. “Caring for Weeds”) first performed on Karl-Marx-Allee, Berlin, during the summer 2018. This summer was marked by an extreme heatwave that put a strain on both people and plants. To counteract the effects of the heat on the vegetation, Missika started to tirelessly water the weeds making it to the other end of the street on the second day.

More information about the exhibition and the artist: www.reconnecting.earth / www.adrienmissika.com