Jorinde Voigt - Botanic Code

Botanic Code began as a walk in the park, and ripened into a dazzling and complex work of art - and an evocative oversized exhibition catalog. German artist Jorinde Voigt spent a year walking through some of the world's greatest botanical gardens (including Sydney, Cologne, Mexico City and Berlin), taking photos of plants that caught her fancy. She assigned each plant colors on the Pantone scale, then, using a computer algorithm, transferred those colors proportionately to a series of 12-foot-long rods. When all the rods for each garden were completed, they were mounted together, forming something like a delicate barcode for each distinct garden. Full-color glossy pages show the rod installations, like minimalist sculpture; a separate section on laid paper, bound into the center of the book, explains the artist's mathematical methodology.