Blue Flower AR with the Silk-Cotton Tree of Lalbagh in Bengaluru, India

This image was created in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India at the Silk Cotton Tree in Lalbagh Gardens. This particular and ancient tree was likely planted during the reign of Tipu Sultan [1782-99], before bearing the arrival of the British colonialists and is thought to be the largest example of the species anywhere in the world. In India, it is known as the Semul tree and is often associated with the arrival of spring when it blooms with beautiful flowers. The tree's significance is reflected in Indian folklore, where it is believed to be a symbol of love and fertility.

Images of virtually 'planted' gene edited wild chicory plants in relevant locations made by Anna Dumitriu using the Blue Flower AR app created in collaboration with Alex May. The physical gene edited plants represented here are not normally allowed to leave the laboratory in many countries but through augmented reality users can transgress rules and fill the world with them.

Anna Dumitriu and Alex May's artistic project explores the cultural history and morphology of the chicory plant and investigates how new plant breeding methods such as CRISPR gene editing can be used to create future healthcare and food benefits. Chicory inspired the idea of the Blue Flower in German Romanticism, and became a central symbol of the movement. It inspired Goethe’s concept of the ‘urpflanze’ or original plant in his “Metamorphosis of Plants”. The romantic movement was a reaction to the industrial revolution and held nature and emotion in the highest esteem. Now we are part of a biotechnological revolution, and again the blue flower becomes an important symbol. This time in a more complex position at the interface of nature and technology, central to societal explorations of what may be acceptable in synthetic biology, and how ‘nature’ and ‘natural’ may be defined in the future. Or as Goethe stated “the unnatural that too is natural”.