The plants will win

Several years ago now, I remember reading a blog by fellow City-Cost contributor helloalissa about the takeover of vines on abandoned homes, buildings, bikes, and cars. She mentioned that there was an enjoyment of seeing nature gobble up these manmade structures, and it gave me a different appreciation of vines ever since.

I was reminded of that blog recently as I've been working through more of the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale pieces in our local area. One of the pieces is called "The Human Re-entering Nature," and it's literally a giant 4 meter tall cutout of a man which is covered in vines that look almost like clothing. The vines are starting to wither away a bit as the temps get colder out here, but I can only imagine how it would've looked in the middle of summer when everything gets so lush and overgrown.

I love that art and nature really do get intertwined (quite literally, in this case) at the art triennale – definitely one of my favorite events out here in the countryside. As helloalissa said in her blog some years ago, "the plants will win."