Artist Miya Ando has created the Flower Atlas installation in New York City from 72 cloth banners that draw attention to the shift in traditional Japanese seasons created by climate change.
Titled Flower Atlas, the banners hang in New York City's Brookfield Place mall and depict an ancient Japanese calendar through unique floral motifs.
Miya Ando created an art installation of large-scale cloth banners
Each of the large-scale banners represents one of the 72 seasons in the Japanese K? calendar, which was initially developed in the 7th century.
In contrast to the standard Western calendar, it responds more closely to the natural environment by breaking the 365-day year into seasons of around five days each.
The banners each depict a flower that blooms just one day a year during these "micro seasons". Each banner represents a "micro season" of an ancient Japanese calendar
"I was interested in creating an environment of walking through a calendar," said Ando.
"I imagined a skygarden, based on the ancient 24 and 72 seasons calendars wherein coloured petals represented flowers as days and one would be transported into an alternative, nature-based system of time."
The banners are made of chiffon printed with a variety of materials
Due to "human impact on climate" the K? calendar no longer aligns with the seasons of today, explained the artist.
Ando explored this shift by proposing Flower Atlas as an alternative time-keeping re...