Pollinator Pathmaker is an artwork for other species.
Ginsberg’s unique algorithmic tool generates planting schemes optimised for pollinator diversity, rather than human aesthetics; these living artworks are then planted and cared for by humans. Launched in 2021, and expanding internationally, Pollinator Pathmaker presents a new approach to ecological action by creating art for the more-than-human, transforming humans from consumers to caretakers. Her experiment in ‘algorithmic altruism’ asks whether we can embed alternative value systems in the technologies we make or if human creativity inherently prioritise our needs.
Ginsberg is creating the world’s largest climate-positive artwork by integrating public institutional commissions and local community engagement via her online tool www.pollinator.art. For the More than Human Fellowship, she will work in tapestry and draw on its history in art as a utopian space to explore Pollinator Pathmaker’s aesthetic question: can an artwork simulate the experience of the world of another species, inviting empathy for the more-than-human?
