ROBERT ZHAO RENHUI
PRESENTED BY LOUISE CLEMENTS
A GUIDE TO THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE WORLD
What evolves when bees become dependent on caffeine, seeking drops of nectar from factory waste? The Institute of Critical Zoologists’ series, A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World, led by Zhao Renhui, maps this subject and more. Collated from considerable research, the work charts curious plants and animals affected by human habitation or scientific intervention. The study documents images of specimens in the field or at the lab, such as: fish tomatoes, venomous cabbage, bioluminescent squirrels, and square apples.
Louise Clements
A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World seeks to document and reflect on the myriad ways in which human action and intervention are slowly altering the natural world.
The guide presents a catalogue of curious creatures and life forms that have evolved in often unexpected ways to cope with the stresses and pressures of a changed world. Other organisms documented in the series are the results of human intervention, mutations engineered to serve various interests and purposes ranging from scientific research to the desire for or namentation. Several specimens in this project are based on fact; others are based on proposals, hypotheses, and papers written by scientists.
The line between these two is often an indistinct one, as scientific advances within the last half-century have made possible what was previously believed to be impossible.
Robert Zhao Renhui
Prints and framing by AVS Printing,Singapore.
World Goldfish Queen, 2013. Courtesy of the artist.
Fat Polar Bear Swimming in Hudson Bay, 2013. Courtesy of the artist.