Anna Garforth
Images Anna Garforth©1-5. Bing Bang Project; 6-7 Pollinate project; 8-13 Edible Poster project
Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.
- Edward. O. Wilson
Anna Garforth is a London designer. As she’s a good citizen of London, Anna loves green and not so much because of its specific color but for its materialization in plants, gardens, meadows and moss.The leitmotiv of his latest projects is to reconnect her audience with nature and give nature a voice.
From this premise was born Mossenger .
Anna took the common herb that grows well on brick and use them to write verses written by Elly Stevens . She had stucked them to the wall with a mixture of natural yoghurt and sugar
Green is not his only ally, there’s also cookies! In fact she experimented cookie’s typography with Edible Poster .
The last project realized by Anna is The Big Bang an installation that represents the mother earth as a seed in the explosion and the future expected is Signs Nature, transforming tube signs into gardens.
Here’s some Anna’s thoughts:
On the relationship with Moss Graffiti
Me and moss go back far. As a kid i have always been fascinated by its mythical nature. I grew up in rural England where there was plenty to explore. I moved to London at 18 and put nature on the back seat for a while, submersing my self in the urban culture. Then gradually I started going back to my roots and began seeking out the wild parts of the city, I started to notice weeds and bushes growing out of brick walls and moss growing in between the gaps. I spend a lot of time in the overgrown parks and wild cemeteries where I noticed moss growing in the carved out letters of the grave stones. I gathered and collected and took half the forest back into my room, where I began to experiment. Moss art was born! I only do a certain amount of pieces a year, however I am continuously exploring other ideas using natural media.
Does Moss Graffiti differ from other kinds of streetart?
It differs because it is impermanent and leaves no trace. I have not seen many artists create site specific work using nature in the city. I never really knew whether what I was doing was illegal or not, but the other day I was creating a piece and a couple of policemen walked past me, they nodded and smiled. It is a really positive form of art that gets a great response. It is street art because it is created for the public.
On the balance between being creative and eco-friendly
Good design listens to nature, and learns from her. Many things contradict sustainability, however it is the challenge of creating work that supports sustainiblity that inspires many designers, artists and architects. My creativity comes from the heart and intuition. A love and respect for our natural environment was instilled from a young age. I don’t think too much about being eco friendly when I create, I just make what I make because it feels right.
On the future of eco / sustainable design
That it will be everywhere, and as a species we will learn to work with and give back to Mother Earth
