The Missing Species Concept

The design project, "Missing Species", was developed to act as a discursive design object to communicate local biodiversity. My design project juxtaposes the invasive plant Japanese knotweed with local endangered plants. It aims to inform about the species we may lose due to (our) human unintentional behaviour. First, I made paper from the invasive plant Japanese knotweed. Next, the Japanese knotweed paper was juxtaposed with local endangered species as holes in the shapes of endangered species were cut out of the Japanese knotweed paper, representing how the local species are likely to be supplanted by invasive exotic garden plants such as the Japanese knotweed. The empty space where the local plant was supposed to be, is seen as an absence, a blank space, something which is no longer there. The holes are shaped as the vulnerable native plants, in danger of extinction; Speedwell (Veronica Spicata), Longstalk Cranesbill (Geranium columbinum), Cotoneaster laxiflorus, Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium calceolus), Elm (Ulmus glabra) and European Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris).