Sprecher
Beschreibung
Plant palaeoart sits at an innovative threshold between scientific description and artistic revelation; its promise lies not in passive illustration but in dynamic knowledge production and access. Drawing on ongoing research with Queensland Museum's palaeobotanic type collection, I present an intra-disciplinary methodology in which artistic practice and palaeobotany operate as mutually generative epistemic partners rather than as discrete domains of explanation and depiction. The research engages Cenozoic silicified and permineralised holotypes such as Spondylostrobus rozefeldsii, Fontainocarpa foraminata and Capella raulingsii through a suite of imaging and making practices: synchrotron X‑ray micro‑CT at the Imaging and Medical Beamline (Australian Synchrotron); complementary neutron tomography at the DINGO beamline (ANSTO, Lucas Heights); focus‑stacked macro photography; photogrammetric three‑dimensional reconstruction; 3D printing; laser etching; artists' books; and wearable sculpture. Read through Karen Barad's diffractive methodology and Heidegger's aletheia, these techniques non‑destructively revealed internal morphologies and diagnostic taxonomic features in specimens that had resisted classification, while simultaneously yielding works of art that re‑present deep time to specialist and non‑specialist audiences. The exhibitions Aletheia and Deep Time demonstrated how palaeoart can 'democratise the collection', returning rarely viewed holotypes to scientific, artistic and public circulation and seeding peer-reviewed palaeobotanical and artistic publications. I reflect on perspectives from both sides of the art–science threshold: collaborative knowledge creation and democratic access. I propose a three-fold promise for plant palaeoart: a research instrument visualising inaccessible morphology; a critical practice innovating palaeobotanical visual practice; and a public-facing form communicating evolution and extinction with affective force that text alone struggles to achieve.