Wilting Blooms

A publication that delves into the contemporary world's reliance on cut flowers, considering their significance in modern industrialism and aesthetics. Producing flowers daily has many harmful processes that negatively impact the environment and humankind. From the use of toxic chemicals and intense resource consumption to constant transportation in refrigerated spaces and poor labour, this profitable mass production and the issues related to maintaining it, leave a permanent environmental footprint for a product that only lives a few weeks. Despite flowers being completely biodegradable, the nutrients produced from the decay can act as a fertiliser, which can be crucial for the environment. It is important to acknowledge the effects of commercial flower production, as they are comparable to the harm induced by overdevelopment, deforestation and climate change. The book uses tulip flower production as a research method due to their current demand and popularity in commercialism. Cherished by many, the tulip flower has kept its reputation as one of the most beautiful and unique flowers on the planet that has turned from a luxury for the wealthy to common stock at the local market. Through visual defamiliarisation and folding techniques as a narrative, the book provides a fresh perspective on current problems of the mass production of cut flowers. By engaging with the format, the audience can reveal the monotonous processing hidden within the beautiful patterns of tulip blooms. Starting with expanded imagery of the tulip fields, that slowly throughout the book zooms into the details of every single tulip, ending the series of patterns with the flower in the blooming period, which is then being pruned for harvesting and further processing that causes the earlier mentioned negative environmental impact. Find more on www.alexadsgn.com