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The Apocalyptic HerbariumMourning and Transformation in Anselm Kiefer’s Secret of the Ferns

The Apocalyptic HerbariumMourning and Transformation in Anselm Kiefer’s Secret of the Ferns Anselm Kiefer’s monumental Secret of the Ferns (2007) redirects the artist’s apocalyptic sensibility, honed in response to the Holocaust, to the slow violence of extinction. The installation adopts a foundational practice of early modern natural history: the herbarium’s preservation and presentation of dried, pressed plant specimens. It also mobilizes the symbolic associations of ferns, which Kiefer calls “the first plants” but which are reimagined in the gallery space as the last plants in a postapocalyptic future. The framed specimens hang in a massive hall, with two abandoned concrete bunkers spewing out coal in the center—an allusion to ferns as the source of fossil fuels. Coal appears again in the enigmatic charcoal inscriptions on the frames that allude to ferns’ rich associations with rituals of magic and transformation. The overall mood is of a temporality at the end of time, a proleptic elegy that anticipates the extinction of even the most common and resilient plants, and the human cultures associated with them. Transmuted from mnemonic device to vehicle of commemoration, Kiefer’s apocalyptic herbarium elicits grief and mourning—but also, perhaps, what Judith Butler has called “the transformative effect of loss.” http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Environmental Humanities Duke University Press

The Apocalyptic HerbariumMourning and Transformation in Anselm Kiefer’s Secret of the Ferns

Batsaki, Yota
Environmental Humanities , Volume 13 (2) – Nov 1, 2021
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23 pages

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Copyright
© 2021 Yota Batsaki
ISSN
2201-1919
eISSN
2201-1919
DOI
10.1215/22011919-9320211
Publisher site
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Abstract

Anselm Kiefer’s monumental Secret of the Ferns (2007) redirects the artist’s apocalyptic sensibility, honed in response to the Holocaust, to the slow violence of extinction. The installation adopts a foundational practice of early modern natural history: the herbarium’s preservation and presentation of dried, pressed plant specimens. It also mobilizes the symbolic associations of ferns, which Kiefer calls “the first plants” but which are reimagined in the gallery space as the last plants in a postapocalyptic future. The framed specimens hang in a massive hall, with two abandoned concrete bunkers spewing out coal in the center—an allusion to ferns as the source of fossil fuels. Coal appears again in the enigmatic charcoal inscriptions on the frames that allude to ferns’ rich associations with rituals of magic and transformation. The overall mood is of a temporality at the end of time, a proleptic elegy that anticipates the extinction of even the most common and resilient plants, and the human cultures associated with them. Transmuted from mnemonic device to vehicle of commemoration, Kiefer’s apocalyptic herbarium elicits grief and mourning—but also, perhaps, what Judith Butler has called “the transformative effect of loss.”

Journal

Environmental Humanities – Duke University Press

Published: Nov 1, 2021

References

  • Plant Blindness and the Implications for Plant Conservation
    Balding, Mung Williams, Kathryn J. H.
  • The Most Fundamental Discovery about Ferns
    Benedict, R. C.
  • Le cabinet d’ Ulisse Aldrovandi et la construction du savoir
    Boutroue, Marie-Elisabeth Martin, Pierre Moncond’huy, Dominique
  • Environment as Kinship
    Braun, Sebastian F. Cunsolo, Ashlee Landman, Karen
  • The Gift of Tears: Loss, Mourning, and the Work of Ecological Restoration
    Burton-Christie, Douglas
  • The Relation of Hanunóo Culture to the Plant World
    Conklin, Harold C.
  • Ferns: Facts and Fancies about Them: II
    Corne, F. E.
  • Historic Herbarium Specimens as Biocultural Assets: An Examination of Herbarium Specimens and Their in Situ Plant Communities of the Agulhas National Park, South Africa
    Cowell, Carly R. Anderson, Pippin M. L. Annecke, Wendy A.
  • Climate Change as the Work of Mourning
    Cunsolo, Ashlee
  • Plant Collections Online: Using Digital Herbaria in Biology Teaching
    Flannery, Maura C.
  • Geographies of Extinction: Exploring the Spatiotemporal Relations of Species Death
    Garlick, Ben Symons, Kate
  • Herbarium Specimens as Exaptations: New Uses for Old Collections
    Heberling, J. Mason Isaac, Bonnie L.
  • The Twin Towers of Anselm Kiefer and the Trope of Imperial Decline
    Hell, Julia
  • St. John’s Wort—Ancient Herbal Protector
    Hobbs, Christopher
  • Gallegan Folklore
    Howes, H. W.
  • Everyday Ecocide, Toxic Dwelling, and the Inability to Mourn: A Response to Geographies of Extinction
    Jones, Owen Rigby, Kate Williams, Linda
  • The Genius of Wilhelm Hofmeister: The Origin of Causal-Analytical Research in Plant Development
    Kaplan, Donald R. Cooke, Todd Joseph
  • Account of the Germination and Raising of Ferns from the Seed
    Lindsay, John
  • Inquiry as Collection: The Athanasius Kircher Museum in Rome
    Lugli, Adalgisa
  • Du nouveau sur la licorne: Le rôle des cabinets de curiosités dans l’avancée des savoirs
    Marrache-Gouraud, Myriam Garrod, Raphaële Smith, Paul J.
  • Anselm Kiefer: German Landscape, Universal Spirit
    Meier, Cordula Rosenblum, Robert
  • Natural History and Information Overload: The Case of Linnaeus
    Müller-Wille, Staffan Charmantier, Isabelle
  • Plant Awareness Disparity: A Case for Renaming Plant Blindness
    Parsley, Kathryn M.
  • Thinking in Pictures
    Ronte, Dieter
  • Naming the Anthropocene
    Schneiderman, Jill S.
  • Seeds with a Mechanical Purpose
    Shakelford, Jole Debus, Allen Walton, Michael Thomson
  • Digitization of Herbaria Enables Novel Research
    Soltis, Pamela S.
  • The World’s Herbaria 2018: A Summary Report Based on Data from Index Herbariorum
    Thiers, Barbara
  • Traditional Uses and Folklore of Hypericum in the British Isles
    Vickery, A. R.
  • Preventing Plant Blindness
    Wandersee, James Schussler, Elizabeth
  • The Economic Uses and Associated Folklore of Ferns and Fern Allies
    Wile May, Lenore
  • Plant Blindness and the Implications for Plant Conservation
    Balding, Mung Williams, Kathryn J. H.
  • The Most Fundamental Discovery about Ferns
    Benedict, R. C.
  • Le cabinet d’ Ulisse Aldrovandi et la construction du savoir
    Boutroue, Marie-Elisabeth Martin, Pierre Moncond’huy, Dominique
  • Environment as Kinship
    Braun, Sebastian F. Cunsolo, Ashlee Landman, Karen
  • The Gift of Tears: Loss, Mourning, and the Work of Ecological Restoration
    Burton-Christie, Douglas
  • The Relation of Hanunóo Culture to the Plant World
    Conklin, Harold C.
  • Ferns: Facts and Fancies about Them: II
    Corne, F. E.
  • Historic Herbarium Specimens as Biocultural Assets: An Examination of Herbarium Specimens and Their in Situ Plant Communities of the Agulhas National Park, South Africa
    Cowell, Carly R. Anderson, Pippin M. L. Annecke, Wendy A.
  • Climate Change as the Work of Mourning
    Cunsolo, Ashlee
  • Plant Collections Online: Using Digital Herbaria in Biology Teaching
    Flannery, Maura C.
  • Geographies of Extinction: Exploring the Spatiotemporal Relations of Species Death
    Garlick, Ben Symons, Kate
  • Herbarium Specimens as Exaptations: New Uses for Old Collections
    Heberling, J. Mason Isaac, Bonnie L.
  • The Twin Towers of Anselm Kiefer and the Trope of Imperial Decline
    Hell, Julia
  • St. John’s Wort—Ancient Herbal Protector
    Hobbs, Christopher
  • Gallegan Folklore
    Howes, H. W.
  • Everyday Ecocide, Toxic Dwelling, and the Inability to Mourn: A Response to Geographies of Extinction
    Jones, Owen Rigby, Kate Williams, Linda
  • The Genius of Wilhelm Hofmeister: The Origin of Causal-Analytical Research in Plant Development
    Kaplan, Donald R. Cooke, Todd Joseph
  • Account of the Germination and Raising of Ferns from the Seed
    Lindsay, John
  • Inquiry as Collection: The Athanasius Kircher Museum in Rome
    Lugli, Adalgisa
  • Du nouveau sur la licorne: Le rôle des cabinets de curiosités dans l’avancée des savoirs
    Marrache-Gouraud, Myriam Garrod, Raphaële Smith, Paul J.
  • Anselm Kiefer: German Landscape, Universal Spirit
    Meier, Cordula Rosenblum, Robert
  • Natural History and Information Overload: The Case of Linnaeus
    Müller-Wille, Staffan Charmantier, Isabelle
  • Plant Awareness Disparity: A Case for Renaming Plant Blindness
    Parsley, Kathryn M.
  • Thinking in Pictures
    Ronte, Dieter
  • Naming the Anthropocene
    Schneiderman, Jill S.
  • Seeds with a Mechanical Purpose
    Shakelford, Jole Debus, Allen Walton, Michael Thomson
  • Digitization of Herbaria Enables Novel Research
    Soltis, Pamela S.
  • The World’s Herbaria 2018: A Summary Report Based on Data from Index Herbariorum
    Thiers, Barbara
  • Traditional Uses and Folklore of Hypericum in the British Isles
    Vickery, A. R.
  • Preventing Plant Blindness
    Wandersee, James Schussler, Elizabeth
  • The Economic Uses and Associated Folklore of Ferns and Fern Allies
    Wile May, Lenore