PLANT RESEARCH  CYNTHIA FAN


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PEAR_ED with Hayden Malan

Collective, 2023–

With
Hayden Malan

Based in
London, Cape Town and Amsterdam

Since
2023

Website
pear-ed.orgThis shared enquiry into botany, biology and art centres on the guiding question: "What do plants really want?"

At once resisting and quoting traditions of flower arranging, the pair's botanical compositions become a medium for spending (more) time with organic matter and listening to the non-human sentient. The plants, shifting and changing over the course of the project, insist their autonomy - some wilt, others send out aerial roots, growth and decay persist. Together, they share a preoccupation with the sculptural potential of plants as both natural organisms and modular structures. Currently, the focus is on the identification of unusual plants found between Amsterdam and London, and GPS coordinates are provided to each unique location. The plants share common features and are effectively in conversation with one another. Scientific, cultural and indigenous knowledge is gathered about each plant. These are presented through a parallel Instagram page (@pear__ed) that tracks the conversation.

What Do Plants Want?  
Hosted by Flo Fitzgerald at Hauser & Wirth, Somerset
(September 2026)
Hosted by A4 Art Foundation, Cape Town
(February 2023)
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