INFIELD

Infield shifts the ground at the entrance of ArkDes from asphalt car park, to a biodiverse meadowland that will accumulate life over the season. Humans are invited to join this assemblage, and spend time amongst the thousands of plants and other life forms (birds, insects, reptiles) to simply experience being together in a shared time and place.

The familiar plants are representative of Sweden’s infield meadows. In pre-modern times infields were at the centre of the agricultural system that transformed Europe. In the contemporary condition it’s a remnant of that organising structure, and a space where intensive human plant interactions can be seen as positively associated with biodiversity. An infield sits between worlds. If abandoned it returns to forest or lost to the processes of industrialisation and urbanism. Sweden’s remnant infields are among the most species rich plant communities in on Earth.

Photography by Andy Liffner

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