TAKE IT
Situated on the uppermost floor of the building, Angier-Sroka’s installation Take It consisted of thyme plants filling up the attic, which thus resembled a greenhouse: glazed sloping roof, warm and humid air, and the calming aroma of herbs that seemed to be at odds with the chemical scents and various paraphernalia that filled the rest of the Faculty of Pharmacy. However, reminding us of the healing properties of thyme, whose oil contains thymol and carvacrol, known for their germicidal and fungicidal properties, the artist made a reference to the botanical roots of pharmacy. What was important to Angier-Sroka was the industrialization of the production of medicines, the substitution of natural methods of treatment with synthetic substances of unknown side effects. Belonging to the urban gardening trend, the installation emphasised the soothing properties of plants, the need to come back to seemingly old and forgotten lifestyles, foods and ways of spending time that turn out to be therapeutic.
> Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz
photo: Peter Kreibich