Last week I received an orphan plant in CFC 3: Nature. It was, I later discovered, what is commonly referred to as a lucky bamboo. Here are some sketches of it:
I did some research and found out that this plant is, interestingly enough, neither lucky nor bamboo. Hilarious, right! It is entirely unrelated to the plant species of real bamboo, being related rather to the lily family. Its scientific name is Dracaena Sanderiara, and it is native to the rainforests of West Africa and the Congo (NOT to any part of Asia, from which much of its mysticism is generated). The idea of the plant being lucky is based on its being linked somehow with the practice of the Asian philosophy of Feng Shui. My guess is that this link has been constructed solely for the purpose of selling a sense of the exotic and mystic to silly Westerners who don't know any better, bolstered by the fact that the plant is very easy to maintain and cheap to grow/ produce (and happens to resemble what we Westerners think of as actual bamboo). Here is my research on the 'lucky bamboo':
My Lucky Bamboo
The orphan plant I picked up in class turned out to be a specimen of the plant commonly known as the Lucky Bamboo. These plants can be picked up at most garden stores, some gift shops and even many grocery stores in America, being relatively common gifts for home and indoor decoration. They are not in any way native to the Western Hemisphere, but are valued because of their popular folklore of having significance in the Eastern practice of Feng Shui. These plants contain much symbolism in these Eastern practices, including their ability to link the natural elements of wood and, water, earth, and fire with the tying of a red ribbon around the stalk into a balance, allowing for the positive flow of energy. The number of stalks in the arrangement also points to the area of the owner’s life that will receive luck: 2 stalks means love, 3 or 5 means happiness, 5 or 7 means good health, 8 means wealth, 9 is good fortune, 10 is perfection, and 21 is powerful blessings. The interesting thing about all of this is that both the ‘luck’ and the ‘bamboo’ of the lucky bamboo are almost entirely fabricated fictions.
This plant, scientifically known as Dracaena Sanderiara, is in fact not related in the least to actual bamboo; it is a part of the Liliaceae, or Lily family. It is native to the tropical rainforests of west Africa in the Cameroon and Congo, where it lives in the understory of the forests. For this reason, dracaena saneriara is best kept in indirect sunlight, or else its leaves will turn yellow. In accordance with the wet soil of the rainforests, these plants are also typically sold in 2 to 3 inches of water, to be drained and resupplied every week or so to avoid rot. Besides being entirely unrelated to real bamboo, the ‘lucky bamboo’ is also completely non-native to the continent of Asia, from which the Feng Shui practice derives. It seems the lucky bamboo is, then, largely popular for its connotations rather than any actual properties it holds. The vastly growing Western fascination with what it perceives to be traditional Eastern practices such as Feng Shui, combined with the inherent hardy, easy-to-take-care-of and maintain disposition of the plant, has allowed it to gain a leg up in the marketing world, as is it is also easy to manufacture: these decorative plants are simply sections of older stems cut into small portions, and which grow roots and leaves when put in water or soil.
In its full commercial bliss, this plant can be twisted into intricate patterns and spirals, to be sold in the shapes of hearts and other curls. This is achieved by a tedious process of turning the plant all through its growth under one source of light, but adds much more monetary value to the plant as well as decorative value. Despite being marketed as a total fraud, the lucky bamboo is still a lovely plant, whose connotations can indeed brighten up a house with the idea of positive energy, and which seems to lift the spirits of the owner (me). I do enjoy my little orphan plant.
Based on this information, I proceeded to imagine a housing for this plant which would seek to provide the sort of environment that is native to this plant. I wanted to create a sort of rainforest which would show the owner where this plant comes from, what its needs are, and perhaps create a more real connection between owner and plant than using it to bring an abstract concept of 'luck'. Here are some pictures of the mock-up structure I made as a temporary housing for the plant:
The white container here represents the pot of the plant. The rest of the photos imagine it is there, to show the mechanics better of how the housing would work.
Water poured into the plant's soil would drip through to the bottom of the plant's container, and through the holes in the bottom into the smaller box at the base of the structure.
It would then be pumped up the orange straw, by means of a manual pump I would construct. (by pressing down on the top of the orange pump.
Water would be pumped out of the end of the orange tube into a filter which would remove any excess flourine which is damaging to the plant, which is often found in tap water, and filter down into the showerhead-like container suspended above the plant.
The water then would rain down on the plant through little holes, like a rainforest, therefore continuing the water cycle.
The structure is also meant to have foliage surrounding the support beams, acting as the plant cover would in a rainforest, for this plant which is native to the understory of the rainforest and therefore indirect sunlight.
Water would be pumped and cycled once or twice a week by the owner-- a very simple process which could turn out to be meaningful in developing a more real and reality-based relationship between owner and plant.
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**PLAN FOR PERMANENT HOUSING:
Based on all that I have learned and discovered by researching this plant and thinking about a structure for it, I have decided that what interests me the most is both the myth/ hoax this plant his been made out to be, as well as the possibility for recognizing the innate magic/ luck inherent in this plant in a more real way, to find a way to show that this plant is lucky not because of its connection to Feng Shui or asian mysticism, but because it is a living being, which is sacred in and of itself. I seek to show this in a very different way. I want to create the possibility for the owner to first be aware of the sham, and then to reveal the real magic of the plant through a metamorphosis.
First, the plant will be kept in what appears to be a crystal ball. The hoax is apparent, in the gaudy magic-trick type set-up. The 'magic' happens when the 'magician' pushes a small lever (not very well concealed beneath some sparkly translucent fabric) to spray water into the crystal ball onto the plant.
This is to expose the kind of sham which this plant has been made to be by commercialism.
(Here are some pictures of the mock-up cardboard model I made in class on Wednesday to show this crystal ball idea:)
This is the inner structure that catches the water run-off and then where it attaches to teh pump. This had been modified, as now the inner structure for water will be much larger, and the plant's roots will be only in water, not in soil. So no pot for the plant anymore. (which in this model would have gone directly above the hole in the smaller inner container shown here).
The paper is supposed to represent the sparkly translucent fabric that would go over the crystal ball, shown by the strips of cardboard in a sphere-like shape here.)
The transformation and real meaning of the piece occurs when the side paneling of the structure is folded down to reveal a glass box exposing the roots of the plant, and creating the structure into a sort of altar for sacred objects of nature, which are meaningful to me as tiny articles of natural luck and magic, just as sacred as this plant is as a living being. Nothing is hidden after this transformation, and the structure not only serves as a functioning living system for the plant, but also as a beautiful sanctuary to show the majesty of this plant, the magic it holds just for being alive, inherent in itself. In this way, the plant is indeed lucky, and a real relationship can take place between plant and owner.
I am very excited to create a working model of this entire structure for wednesday!
