Case Studies: Questions of Home, Plants and Power

It’s curious to think that a few pieces of glass and timber are responsible for that banana I ate for breakfast, the orchid sitting on your windowsill, or the tyres on your car. It’s interesting to ponder that the seemingly simple, and actually accidental, invention of the Wardian case – a fully sealed glass case for plant transport – could break and make empires and cultures. Whilst today the Wardian case is most commonly seen as a decorative item (its close cousin being the terrarium), it had immense impact on the way we eat and live. It globalised botany, for better or worse.

The story of the Wardian case begins in 1829. London doctor and amateur naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward placed a moth pupa on some leaf mould into a sealed jar, wanting to watch the insect’s metamorphosis. Soon, however, his interest was sideswiped by a fern and a small grass growing in the jar. Ward was delighted – he was an avid fern collector and had much trouble growing them in his smoggy London garden. He began experimenting with his discovery, testing many plants and designs, and soon realised the potential of his sealed glass cases for plant transportation. Ward recorded the results of his research in the 1842 book On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases.

The Wardian case, and its influence on global plant movement, has long intrigued Auckland based florist Felicity Jones – from the small stories of connection to home and land, via gardening, and the wider cultural and environmental implications of the movement of plants throughout the world. “I’ve often thought how making a garden might have been paramount for early European settlers on their arrival to Aotearoa (New Zealand). Not only for obvious survival reasons, but also as a means of maintaining an emotional connection with a now distant homeland. I was curious to find out how our exotic plant life arrived here, and soon discovered the fascinating story of the Wardian Case. For New Zealand, it meant that very quickly, along with the influx of European settlers, the landscape was irrevocably changed.”

Case Studies is a series of images created by Felicity and photographer Mark Smith, exploring the influence and impact of the Wardian case in New Zealand. “Conceptually, we liked the idea of visual containment as a way of elevating a plant’s status. We also wanted to highlight the collision of the two botanical and cultural worlds.”

The pair made a case, and traveled around the countryside of New Zealand, photographing the juxtaposition of the botanical with the cultural, native with exotic. “In presenting these works we hope to contribute to an understanding of the stories of our past, both positive and negative, and promote discussion around our joint future.”

“Māori have this fantastic word and philosophy, Kaitiakitanga, which refers to having a deep sense of respect and guardianship for the natural environment,” says Felicity. “It sums up how I, and many New Zealanders, feel about the responsibility we have to care for our land, air and water. Mistakes have, and continue to be made, but I believe there is hope for a future where more New Zealanders value and embrace a Māori world view – seeing land less in terms of ownership and usage and more as an entity that can provide, but in doing so, must always be respected and protected for future generations.”

From our most intimate human needs – to cultivate and care, to feel at home, to eat – to our most political and often destructive desires – to control, to own, to shape – plants have always been, and still are, involved. Case Studies illustrates this most important and often overlooked fact.

‘Felled’ Kaingaroa Forest, 2019

“Mark has always been fascinated by the Pinus radiata forests of Aotearoa, their sheer scale, the destructive looking scenes created around them and their value – more as commodity than nature. They are a huge part of the New Zealand economy and their environmental impact is continually debated. We decided to keep our case empty for this shot taken near Lake Taupo, the introduced seedlings long escaped from their Californian home.”

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Case Studies by Felicity Jones and Mark Smith is being exhibited at Allpress Studio in Auckland from October 15 to 25, coinciding with Tuia 250 Encounters.