Tine Melzer & Markus Kummer: Blumen sind geil.

The language of flowers seems to be a last code of civilising innocence. Why outsourcing our emotions to plants? How to transfer our doubts to words? Flowers are out, so we will soon need them again. They are left-overs from a colourful nature and irritating by their offensive reproductivity. They are products of globalised trade and omnipresent, where ever we celebrate, fancy, seduce and mourn. Which are appropriate flowers for a divorce? Which wreath do we expect for our own grave?

Blossoms are beautiful – and prissy: explosions in slow-motion, and cut flowers keep on growing in their vases. Flowers are wicked and lustful, as they accompany our cultural codes. They traditionally convey specific symbolic messages. In the book "Blumen sind geil" [flowers are wicked], literary short texts come together with a series of photographic scenes, complementing, disturbing and distorting each other. It combines visual, sculptural and conceptual work with spelled-out language. The monologue-like texts meet with the images as sentences, thereby tilting meanings.

Tine Melzer (1978) is an author and artist and connects language philosophy with visual means. She studied in Amsterdam, received her PhD in England, teaches at the University of the Arts Bern and lives in Zurich. www.tinemelzer.eu

Markus Kummer (1974) is visual artist and materialises architectural, scenographic and interventional processes. He studied in Geneve, Basel and Bern and lives in Zurich. www.makuskummer.com