ecoSFera | Photography collection

For Andreea Săsărean, the symbiosis of the plant and animal worlds is as fascinating for the human senses as it is important for our life on the planet we inhabit. Starting from this synergy and from speculating and interpreting an unknown ecosystem by observing it and associating it with mathematics and aesthetic sense, Andreea Săsărean proposes an exhibition of photographs as a project within the Energy! "The exhibition of the ecoSFera photo collection in a natural setting and the use of more environmentally friendly materials, as the title says, comes from the subjective need to show the brotherhood and sisterhood in which we live with our environment, showing both the similarities and the extraterrestrial found in the forms acquired by plants in nature. The title is inspired by oekos, which translates as home, SF is short for science fiction and ecosphere means the closed ecological system of a planet in which a continuous interaction of different forms of matter and energy takes place (source: https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosferă)".

There are said to be patterns in nature that humans mimic. Andreea Săsăărean goes further with this idea and in her argumentation for the scholarship talks about the fact that "This is how we arrive at the term bio-mimicry, found in traditions, but also in our daily habits. 

Bio-mimicry is a practice that learns from nature and mimics techniques found in nature to solve human development challenges - and find hope. (source: https://biomimicry.org/what-is-biomimicry/). Another reference from the field of science fiction associated with natural phenomena is Donna Haraway's study of science fiction in relation to speculative practices on nature, her working methods are Speculative Fabulation and Figure Strings (source and inspiration:

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/26308/ada03-sfsci-har-2013.pdf). The urgency of documenting this environment comes from observing the changes in the seasons, both in the city and in the village, both in the lowlands and in the mountains. TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) defines these observations and research as knowledge and practices passed down from generation to generation, based on cultural memories, sensitivity to change and values that include reciprocity. (Source: https://tek.forestry.oregonstate.edu/what tek), which is another motivation for immortalizing nature in recent years.".".

The photographs that Andreea Săsărean will produce will follow the ideas of print and bio-mimicry. The collection of photographs will become an exhibition and will also be presented online. The exhibition will also mark an important milestone for Andreea Săsărean, as it will be her first solo exhibition.

This project is part of the national cultural program "Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023" and was funded through Energie! Burse de Creație grant by the City of Timisoara, through the Center for Projects.