Art as Action
Art as Action: Participatory Eco-art
Venus Incarnis is firmly situated within the eco-art movement, employing living processes and participatory action. This diagram compares the project's approach with other contemporary artistic practices across four key axes, highlighting its unique contribution. In addition, the work extends through the "Venus Map", an innovative digital tool that turns viewers into active co-creators.
The Venus Map: Extending the Ecosystem
The work is not confined to the gallery. Through biodegradable kits, participants are invited to "plant" their own Venus Incarnis and register its location on a global digital map. This act transforms individual actions into a collective "syntropic manifestation"—a visible network of care and reconnection with the earth, demonstrating how technology can facilitate, rather than hinder, embodied connection.
Live Venus Incarnis Map
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Click on pins to see planting details
Participate with the Venus Incarnis planting kits
Welcome to the interactive heart of Venus Incarnis! These biodegradable kits let you plant and see how decay partners with renewal.
What's in the kit?
3D-printed figurine (corn-based, eco-friendly material, ~10 cm tall).
Soil mix with biochar (to which you add seeds of your choice).
Guide for preparation, planting, and documentation.
How to participate: How will planting work?
Get the Kit
Purchase a kit or receive one if selected.
Prepare and Plant
Moisten the mix, add local seeds, and plant outdoors when you're ready and the weather is appropriate.
Place the Figurine
Place the figurine in front of the mix.
Observe and Document
Observe and document: photos/videos of sprouting/decomposition, spontaneous reactions, comments and reflections.
Share the Experience
Share photos and comments or email me.
Phase 1: Personal Exploration
Initially, planting is suggested in a private space or a nearby public space—to facilitate observation, photography, and personal exploration.
Phase 2: Public Participation
The next stage depends on enough collectors willing to plant their kit in a public space and post the precise location to the Venus Map—a global map showing locations, related images, and comments.
Treasure Hunt
Public placements on the Venus Map, with geolocation, will allow those who wish to try to find a Venus Incarnis near them. With the help of comments and photos they can locate the exact spot, like an artistic/ecological "treasure hunt"! They will witness decay/regeneration or destruction/absence and join the community discussion.
Why participate?
Technology, 3D printing, and the digital map are used not to alienate us, but to invite us into something very tangible: to put our hands in the soil. It is an attempt to bridge the oppositions that trouble us: mind/body, sacred/profane, technology/nature.
The central idea is that the sacred, the divine, is here, in matter, in the soil, in the passage from Dissolution to Regeneration. The solution lies in accepting decay as part of the cycle—as something creative.
Venus Incarnis reminds us: "waste" feeds growth.
Learn More
If you want to learn more about the theory behind the action, read "Ανα-σκευάζοντας την Εδέμ / Re-membering Eden"
Read the Essay