BEYOND NATURE_Organisms Republic transforms a garden area into a democracy of all species as crossover experiment between politics and art and as accumulative monument in public space.

The current tendency towards the Strong Man/Iron Fist in politics provokes the question of how this archetype might influence the actions of each and every one of us and which alternatives we could use to counteract this tendency. In order to not only use the abstract approach in the search for answers, but to also try more tangible ways, the project starts with focusing on the self-perception of each individual as a gardener. From the flower box on the balcony to the royal baroque garden, gardeners enjoy the role of undisturbed exercise of power in their empire: there they are the kings and queens, the dictators. The performance / film series Garden Policy (Club Real 2017) documents this state of power structures concerning humans and eco - systems. https://vimeo.com/showcase/5392022

The project „BEYOND NATURE_Organisms Republic“ faces this experience with a radical counter-assertion that brings those involved together in a democratic-political field experiment, the realization of a garden democracy. The project location is in the Donaufeld area in Vienna's 21st district, an urban development site within sight of the Danube. It is currently one of Vienna’s hotspots of debate about necessary changes responding to the growth of the city. The art project turns an overgrown wasteland under a large greenhouse ruin, subsequently referred to as the „garden“, into a place for public debate about issues of coexistence and the possibilities of collective use. The fact that this greenhouse ruin represents a site specific high-quality symbol for the long standing professional gardening tradition of the district makes the project particularly significant in this very location.

The garden will be designed as Organisms Republic for one year. In the middle of the building a group of permanently installed chairs becomes Organisms Parliament: on a reduced image of the surrounding garden, all organisms inhabiting the area are represented by human members of Parliament. Club Real opens democracy to all non-human organisms such as plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. This should enable new perspectives of perception, new forms of shaping politics and solidarity. The artists work together with experts, residents, local initiatives and visitors to create the events. Depending on the interests and resources of the involved participants, they will act as Parliamentary Representatives, as Garden Executive, as jury members for the Constitutional Court or as public, all involved in the project.